1. Fingerprints
2. I'm Walkin'
3. Cape Verdean Blues
4. Gumbo Klomp
5. Out of the Blue
6. Seek and Ye Shall Find
7. Bobby's Bad
8. Sing Me Softly of the Blues
9. When Will the Blues Leave
10. Sweet Lorraine
Christian Howes - Violin, Yamaha electric violin
Robben Ford - Guitar (tracks 1-8)
Bobby Floyd - Hammond organ, piano (tracks 2, 4-7, 10)
Tamir Hendelman - Piano (tracks 1, 3, 4, 8, 9)
Kevin Axt - Upright bass (tracks 1-3, 8, 9)
Ric Fierabracci - Electric bass (tracks 4-7)
Joel Rosenblatt - Drums
Sharon Hendrix - Vocals (track 6)
There have been so few violinists in jazz that it is easy to find a place for newcomers. American violinist Christian Howe was classically trained, which has equipped him with good technique. He plays with a edgy tone which is reminiscent of Stuff Smith but he lacks some of Smith's wild attack. The other unavoidable comparison is with Jean-Luc Ponty, another violinist who moved from classical music into jazz. Perhaps Christian's classical training has left him with polite habits which are not always well-suited to more informal forms of music like the blues, which the album title suggests is the main theme here. In fact Christian often sounds too thin and reticent for an outright blues player, although his solo on Sing Me Softly of the Blues approaches the down-and-dirty ideal.
Some of the other musicians provide the bite that is sometimes missing from Christian's playing. For example, Robben Ford's solo on Fats Domino's I'm Walkin' is more naturally jazzy than Christian's solo. And Bobby Floyd's swirling Hammond organ is very effective in Howes' composition Gumbo Klomp and particularly so in his scintillating solo on Bobby's Bad, which Howes wrote as a tribute to former Ray Charles organist Floyd. Floyd is equally adept at the piano, as is Tamir Hendelman.
These supporting musicians make the album special, as do the arrangements - written either by Howes or Hendelman - which structure the tunes benefically. And the repertoire is healthily eclectic, mingling such composers as Chick Corea and Carla Bley, Horace Silver and Ornette Coleman. The CD ends with the old standard Sweet Lorraine, performed as a tasty duet between Floyd and Howes. It is just a pity that Christian Howes doesn't make more of a bluesy impact throughout the album.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Resonance RCD 1016
