Sorry, No Decaf by Joel Frahm

14 Apr

Written by Lee Prosser
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Joel Frahm is a NYC-based saxguy who often plays with drummer/composer Matt Wilson at the NYC club Detour. He plays here in what might be called the neo-mainstream bag - that is, fairly straightahead a la. Early-60s Coltrane, mid/late-60s Wayne Shorter with a touch of Zoot Sims. Yet Frahm & Co. avoid that blah sense of gee-haven't-I-heard-this-20,000-times-before déjà vu. Everybody keeps things lively, personal & cliché-free, even on the most mellow and sublimely graceful "100 Years In Motion." "Interesting Perhaps, But Hardly Fascinating Rhythm" is a fine, humorous bit of surreal bebop that recalls the angularity and wit of Thelonious Monk without ever even sounding like him. The churning, Steve Lacy-esque title piece is a killer showcase for Frahm's energetic (yet focused) soprano. Berkman is lyrical in a Bill Evans/McCoy Tyner fashion and Wilson is rhythmically on-the-money throughout. This is definitely worth the search.