Jay Sweet recently joined the board of the JSJBF, and in addition to his fulltime job running the Sweet Academy of Music, gigging as a soloist, being a member of The Vintage Vibe Tribe and running our monthly jazz jam, his latest project is The Atmospheric Trio. The band consists of Jay on upright bass, along with his fellow jam band members, Kenny Tam on keyboards and Dan Weeks drums. Kenny is a Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts graduate in jazz performance and has studied under piano greats Bill Evans and Orrin Evans. He is currently teaching Piano, Theory, and Composition at the Sweet Academy. He has composed professionally as a jingle writer for podcasts and animation. He is credited with writing or arranging four tracks on this release. Dan is a well-respected drummer who fronts his own trio as well as being a member of the Peterson/Weeks Quintet.
This first release, Following Polaris, is an eleven-song set that is split between original material and some curated covers that will be pleasing to the jazz purist as well as the casual listener. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Polaris, it’s the North Star, and that, and the band’s name are a nod to Kenny’s current studies at Rutgers, in Meteorology and Atmospheric sciences.
The title track written by Kenny, “Following Polaris,” lives up to the band’s name with his keyboard floating above the rhythm provided. The sound, to my ears, evokes the style of Vince Guaraldi, but moves beyond that and is more nuanced. The first single, released earlier this month, is the Thelonious Monk composition, “Green Chimneys,” which is done in slightly faster tempo, and showcases the fine drumming of Dan with Jay’s in the pocket bass supporting Kenny’s variations on the main riff created by Monk. Next up is another original by Kenny, “When the Sky Turns Blue,” (more atmospheric references) which features some inspired soloing by Jay, complementing Kenny’s passionate keyboard stylings. Jay’s original composition, “Absurd Arnold,” brings the title to life with some interesting chord structures that are just slightly off center. From there they move to a Rogers & Hart tune, “My Romance,” originally written for the 1935 musical “Jumbo.” The first half of the tune features Jay on his upright bass with bow and then moves into the more familiar piano based melody with pleasing results. “No Bones About It,” is another original by Jay that demonstrates the quality of musicianship possessed by this trio as the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. “Jana’s Delight,” a 1988 release by Don Pullen, is the bands interpretation of the song, and they make it their own, with Kenny’s virtuoso piano and solid accompaniment. This Jay original, and the second tune released, “Slither & Shake,” opens with a bass line that sets the tone, as I conjured up in my head a snake moving through the jungle. As the song progresses, the pace picks up and any thoughts of the prey moving faster than this disappears. Dan’s drums punctuate the interludes as Kenny’s finger work continually picks up speed. It was the highlight of the disc for me. “Tangerine,” by Victor Schertzinger and Johnny Mercer is another prewar classic, here arranged by Kenny with winning results. He has a way with a song that belies his age and it is on full display here, including another fine bass solo for the bridge. The penultimate tune, saxophonist Joe Henderson’s “Isotope,” is arranged by Kenny for piano, and along with his informed playing includes bass and drum solos that propel the song to new heights. An alternate take of “Absurd Arnold (Take 2) is included as the bonus track.
This is a fine debut for a trio that will certainly make their mark on the jazz community. It is also another superbly recorded disc to come out of Steve Jankowski’s Jankland Studio. You can see them perform some of the tunes above as the house band for Jay Sweet’s Jazz Jam on the last Monday of the month at the Chubby Pickle.