Franc O'Shea Esprit

Franc O'Shea

Esprit

Franc O'Shea, electric bass and composer with many more musicians.

Fans of Brand X and Jaco Pastorius's WORD OF MOUTH recording may well go for this in a big way. Although this is O'Shea's gig his electric bass is not up front 24/7, this is an actual band-- and the melodies turn corners you don't expect until afterwards. Orchestras pop up out of nowhere to humorous effect, sawing away at an odd but complementary angle in the opening "Dance Architecture"; there is definitely some scoring muscle going on here. Iím assuming O'Shea is responsible for that as well, because his bass does have all the freedom to wander it wishes. In fact, if the rubato to "Pearl for Maria" (hope I used the right term there; it sounds like a rubato) is any indication, that's probably a six-string he's playing. Folks who recall Jeff Berlin, occupier of the bass chair for several Bill Bruford LPs in the late 1970s and early 1980s, will also rejoice, as O'Shea does not work out the more rubber-band tendencies of the modern approach (think Stanley Clarke, for example ).

Time also to give props to the other players, all of whom earn their corn chips:

Tristan Banks is a whiz on the cymbals, adding a to-the-point and funky drum break to "Bubbaloo," and another standout on that one is pianist Liane Carroll, whose throaty vocal scatting recalls Cassandra Wilson. Satin Singh appends native percussion (Afro/Caribbean, sounds like) to "Be for Baka," giving it an inexorable, infectious sense of neutral drive: there is also a fine long meditation on the conga that recalls early, more raw Santana (you know, before Carlos started hiring vocalists, in fact before some of them were even born). At one point O"Shea floats tones across the percussion carpet and takes it out to the fade by adding on another repeating structure. Not everything is so high-suspension taut: "Lollapalooza" is very typical of the sort of thing one would hear on smooth-jazz stations, competent and funky but not too memorable, but then comes the jouncing "Abacus," which wouldn"t be out of place on one of those good middle-period Weather Report records like NIGHT PASSAGE or PROCESSION. Equal respect must be given to trumpet players Gerard Presencer and Byron Wallen, as well as Nigel Hitchcock's alto sax, navigating some heady arrangements with solid flair.

I notice this CD gets a little more conservative as it goes along (the closer, "Espana y Cariba," has a similar if less contemplative air to Miles Davis' 1974 composition "Maiysha") but the good vibes remain, and O'Shea just keeps one's eyes and ears popping. Try this.

by Ken Egbert

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