1. Pen Argyl
2. Rough and Ready
3. Blue Ball
4. Nanticoke Coke
5. Little Hope
6. Forty Fort
7. Round Bottom, Square Top
8. St. Mary’s Proctor
9. Cute
Peter Evans – Trumpet
Jon Irabagon – Alto sax, tenor sax
Moppa Elliott – Bass
Kevin Shea – Drums, electronics
Imagine if you will, that you are in your favourite record shop browsing
for something interesting in the “M” jazz section where there are
albums by Monk, Mulligan, and Mingus and you come across a disc by
a group called Mostly Other People Do The Killing. Do you say “My,
what an interesting group name” or do you simply pass it over and
wonder “What could they possibly be thinking?”
Is it possible for a group with such an unappealing name to put together
a disc entitled Forty Fort that is full of interesting and
swinging jazz? Although the group has a more or less traditional jazz
configuration of trumpet, sax, bass and drums, and each member has
a polished command of their instrument, any expectation that this
might translate into a musical form that would be open to the listener
does not happen. While this may be called “new music”, it would be
a stretch to call it jazz.
Of the nine tracks on the disc, eight are compositions by bass player
Moppa Elliott having titles such as Pen Argyl, Nanticoke Coke,
Forty Fort and Round Bottom, Square Top with the other
by Neil Hefti entitled Cute originally written for the Count
Basie Band. In this case, the theme is repeated throughout the track,
separated by uninteresting drum breaks, and then dissolves into a
series of high-pitched squeaks.
In trying to find instruction with respect to both the group and
the compositions, often the liner notes can provide some guidance.
Not in this case. The liner notes, in additional to requiring a strong
light and a magnifying glass to read, appear to be written for an
entirely different group led by Roland Kirk accompanied by Tommy Flanagan,
Henry Grimes and Roy Haynes.
Finally is there an audience in an already shrinking jazz market
for a group like this? Perhaps, but it is going to be very hard to
find.
Pierre Giroux
CD Reviews
Hotcup 091
