Byebye pandemic blues: Michael Davis Hip-Bone Band cavorts in 'Open City'

Somewhere in reported Miles Davis lore, there's an anecdote about his visit to a New York City club to

Michael Davis sets full-bore recovery mode in his sights.

check out Buddy Rich's big band. Apart from his hermit period on West 77th Street, the revered trumpeter was known for wanting to hear what everyone was up to and to be a big-eared man about town. His opinions were typically crisp and assertive, whether positive or not.

Anyway, Miles observed to his companion in the midst of a fiery Rich performance something like this: "See what he did there with that little bit? He swung the whole band." That's what I would like to think of what Jared Schonig applies to the scintillating performance of bandleader Michael Davis' composition "State of the Art," as arranged for his first-class Hip-Bone Band on "Open City" (Hip-Bone Music).

Driving the band's post-Covid cavorting, Schonig's drumming is joined at the hip to everything the ensemble and its soloists are doing. As with every time I see session photos in the CD booklet with musicians wearing head sets, however, I question how much spontaneity I can assign to what I'm hearing. Miles Davis' praise of Rich was keyed to live performance, everyone in the same room playing at the same time. So Rich could believably drive the band toward a heightened swing with a few electrifying measures. As much as I want to believe the excitement in "State of the Art" has a similar simultaneity, the photos tell me otherwise. 

At length, knowing how much manipulation goes into engineering and mixing, I started to think that the drums are rather too high in the mix, tune after tune. So as good as Schonig is, the pacing and articulation of these performances ought not to be over-credited to him. Sticking with "State of the Art" for now, this new arrangement of a piece Michael Davis wrote some years ago for a brass-heavy ensemble is a high point of "Open City."

The articulation and controlled energy are top-drawer, and I credit the bandleader with giving significant solo room to his fellow trombonist Marshall Gilkes, whose slide oratory in "State of the Art" starts comfortably up high  and has me hanging on every note. Trumpeter Mike Gonzalez later takes a solo that's just as impressive. When you're soloing over an arrangement that seems to jump off the page, you've got to contribute something extraordinary; these two brassmen certainly do.

The disc's title piece is by the bandleader's bassist son Cole Davis, and features another outing by Rodriguez. Most of the solos are first-rate: Cole's "Three and Out" has a ballad feeling despite its restless groove, with a well-placed solo by the composer and an attractive statement by pianist Andy Ezrin. A couple of contributions by guest star Steve Wilson score high, especially the altoist's rhythmically interesting turn in "Ladybug." Scott Wendholt's flugelhorn solo has a reflectiveness that recalls the muted trombones at the start of the arrangement. On trumpet in the opening track, "Hossland," Wendholt's solo wanders somewhat in the manner of a dog marking trees in a park romp. 

Arrangements often favor successive layering of ensemble sections, but the format is not overused. In "Cat Walk," I admired the inviting introduction and the arrangement's sparkle. Schonig, never possible to ignore, creates a deft partnership behind tenor soloist Scott Dillon, and the way the ensemble rules at the end confirms the rapport displayed along the way. 

How gratifying it is to have the drums tacet in the program finale, "Bone Man Walking"! Trombones of course set the pattern, as the title implies, and the three wind sections get showcases of an almost choral amplitude and warmth.  The piece helps me put aside nagging questions provoked by those photos of everybody wearing head sets. If every player is laying down a track over somebody else's track, well, that's the norm, I guess. 

There's still some spontaneity at work after all, and Miles Davis' presumably raspy compliment about Rich swinging his band with a few strokes may apply, here and there, even to recording sessions. I wouldn't be without recordings as captivating as this one, but my taste for live jazz prevails.