One phrase that is often heard in connection with artists like
Jack McDuff,
Richard "Groove" Holmes,
Gene Ammons, and the seminal
Jimmy Smith is "
soul-jazz/
hard bop." Those artists had the down-home funkiness of the
blues and could easily appeal to
R&B lovers, but they were also relevant to
hard bop and had no problem playing a
Charlie Parker standard if called upon to do so. In some cases, however, a phrase that is more appropriate than "
soul-jazz/
hard bop" is "
soul jazz/
post-bop" -- and it's a phrase that is definitely applicable on
Passing Place. This is the type of album that has one foot in
soul-jazz and organ combos and the other in the
post-bop aesthetic of
John Coltrane (pre-1965, before he got into atonal
free jazz),
Joe Henderson, and
Wayne Shorter; in fact, one of the high points of
Passing Place is an enjoyable performance of
Shorter's
"Virgo." But most of the album is dedicated to
Dan Moretti's own compositions, and much of the time, the saxman (who is heard on both tenor and soprano) achieves a healthy balance of groove and intellect.
Moretti goes for soulfulness, but he doesn't forget about the things that
Henderson and
Shorter's work also offers from an intellectual standpoint.
Moretti is, to his credit, a flexible player; those familiar with
Moretti's background can tell you that his recorded history has ranged from the
jazz-funk workouts of
the Psychic Horns to the
pop-flavored crossover
jazz of 1998's
That's Right (an album that could be described as "
smooth jazz with a brain" -- in other words, comparable to
Grover Washington, Jr.,
David Sanborn, and late-'70s
Ronnie Laws rather than
Kenny G or
Dave Koz). And a desire to combine
soul-jazz and
post-bop serves
Moretti equally well on the worthwhile
Passing Place. ~ Alex Henderson
![Animal Tracks [UK]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0018771997726_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Animal Tracks [UK]")
