Jacob Wendt Silver Street 180g LP

Michael Fremer Rated 9/10 Music, 9/10 Sound!

When it comes to making jazz records, Jacob Wendt is a jack-of-all-trades. Not only did he assemble the band for Silver Street and play the drums, he also did all the composing and arranging for the eight songs on the record. He made key recording and mixing decisions alongside engineer Paul Tavenner, who has over 30 years in the industry (previously holding positions at Capitol Records and CBS) and has been the owner of Big City Recording in Los Angeles since 1999.

Born in the Bay Area, Wendt relocated to Southern California at 18 years old to begin studying jazz in earnest. He quickly developed a passion for learning how all his favorite albums were made, which eventually led him to take a more active role in the technical aspects of producing Silver Street. Specifically, he was inspired by the legend of jazz recordist Rudy Van Gelder's home studio in Hackensack, New Jersey, which was active in the 1950s during hard bop's golden era. In the spirit of his favorite albums made there, Wendt elected to have his band play together in one room at Big City while opting for minimalist miking techniques. Using a classic stereo spread that has horns and drums flanking the piano and bass in the center, each instrument cuts through the mix with refreshing clarity. And where the recording of piano tends to suffer on numerous classic jazz albums, here it has been exceptionally recorded. Wendt and Tavenner have succeeded at creating an intimate sonic portrait of a small jazz combo swinging into the wee hours of the night at a crowded metropolitan club.

Silver Street gets off to a swift start with the album's title track, the name of which aptly cites one of Wendt's main influences. Horace Silver was known to write uptempo, winding melodies in the spirit of bebop, and fans of the pianist might find "Silver Street" tastefully reminiscent of his composing and arranging style. Full of hits, breaks, and stop-time, this uptempo piece features a unison melody line that splits into call and response phrases at the bridge. The whole group really shines on this number. Trumpeter Harry Ostrander is first, coming straight out of the break with two fiery choruses. Jimmy Emerzian follows on tenor sax, crafting his solo with zig-zagging lines and intrepid bursts of energy. Pianist Doug Carter delivers a dazzling solo, stretching out to make use of the entire keyboard while throwing in some surprising rhythmic variations that will keep the listener on their toes. The whole piece ramps up to a shout chorus that puts the spotlight on the drums, highlighting Wendt's understated yet very slick playing.

In addition to Silver, Wendt readily admits that the Blue Note Records catalog has served as a broader source of inspiration. Beginning with the release of Lee Morgan's "The Sidewinder" in 1964, the "boogaloo" became a staple of numerous classic Blue Note albums that followed. "New Groove'' comes from that boogaloo school, but adds a twist: While the piece follows a standard A-A-B-A structure, Wendt spices things up by using a changing time signature for the A sections that alternates between 4/4 and 3/4. It's a real treat to follow along with bassist David Reynoso's soulful, varied basslines throughout. Tap your foot and get lost in Wendt's funky house of mirrors!

"Park Bench Dream" is another of the album's Silver-inspired tunes. The song's laid-back melody came to Wendt in a dream where he and Silver sat together on a park bench poring over sheet music. You can almost feel the breeze while listening. "No Shortcuts" evokes a different kind of mood. The song's darker modal theme and waltz feel reference another of Wendt's chief inspirations, Wayne Shorter. Pianist Carter sets things off with some triumphant block chords, then proceeds to fill the empty space left by the horns with pretty runs recalling Herbie Hancock backing Shorter on one of their legendary dates together. Careful listening will reveal how trumpet and tenor beautifully weave their solo together for one chorus, initially trading phrases before building and overlapping their lines. You'll hear them take this approach a few times on the album.

"Sycamore Stomp" is a 24-bar blues written as an ode to the street of the same name that Wendt lived on in downtown Santa Ana. Surrounded by nightclubs and bars, Wendt imagined a lively crowd swarming the street below his window on a Saturday night during jazz's golden age. Things begin with trumpeter Harry Ostrander letting off a warning shot before delivering his most inspired solo of the record. Emerzian follows, rising to the occasion with rousing two choruses full of groovy licks. Carter is next with an exuberant solo highlighted by periodic use of glissando which keeps the party going. The piece closes with a punchy shout chorus before returning to the melody.

Cooling things down for a bit, "Gin and Platonic" is a contrafact of the jazz standard "Just Friends." Parts of the melody here emphasize and harmonize chord extensions that give the piece a bit of an unresolved, teetering feeling. Piano is absent during the head and horn solo sections, which frees up the trumpet and tenor to forge a harmonic path forward with less restraints. Improvised in the style of legendary duo Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh, the frontline engages in some percolating counterpoint, and Carter perfectly complements the mellower vibe with a sparse, lyrical solo. Wendt holds down the background all along with tight, swinging brush work locked in with Reynoso's driving pulse.

"Before You Go" is a tender ballad that fits into Silver Street's tracklist like a glove. If I had to pick one word to describe the ambience here, it would have to be "classic." The horn lines ooze mood, melding together then parting again in a seamless dance. Trumpeter Ostrander focuses on the melody while tenor Emerzian plays background lines, counterpoint ideas, and harmonized phrases. Also noteworthy is the longing, lyrical melodic line penned by Wendt, which has an especially satisfying cadence in the final stanza.

Closing things out is "Cretaceous." Named after a period in Earth's ancient history dominated by dinosaurs — specifically, the king of all the big lizards, Tyrannosaurus Rex — indeed there is something primeval about music that makes a break with more traditional harmonic ideas. "Cretaceous" begins with a foreboding unaccompanied solo by bassist Reynoso, which is masterfully recorded by engineer Tavenner. The band then joins Reynoso, and Ostrander's choice of a mute for his trumpet gives the track's otherwise menacing mood a touch of comic relief. After the head, the rhythm section breaks out into a lurking walk as pianist Carter channels a dissonant solo in the Monkian tradition. Finally, our humble bandleader returns to the spotlight mid-song, fastidiously working around his kit while the bass leads and horns interject.

In its own voice, Silver Street makes a unique contribution to a musical conversation that began many years ago in jazz's hard bop era. And record collectors are starting to take notice of Jacob Wendt, who had a hand in every aspect of making this album: composing, performing, recording, graphic design, and pressing the vinyl. The finished product is sure to make his passion for this entire process undeniable!

—Richard Capeless

Like the music, the sound is a more modern rendering of the classic Rudy Hackensack sound. The instrumental spread mimics it, but reverb doesn't peak into dark, mysterious corners and the piano sounds like an actual piano, not the hollow wooden echo chamber heard on many RVG living room recordings. Those old recordings do have a certain charm, but the clarity, dynamic power, timbral transparency and transient precision here is even more charming. And everyone's playing in the same room and minimally miked, which helps produce a coherent, holographic picture...I played this record in more than a few rooms at the recent Capital Audio Fest and it brought smiles to faces and got toes to tap.