Naptown Trombone Collective debuts at the Jazz Kitchen

As occasionally facetious master of ceremonies, Rich Dole hinted at the risk of a Jazz Kitchen bandstand loaded with trombonists. But likely everyone felt clear of any danger, because massed trombones deftly deployed turn out to be delightful and unthreatening despite the dominance of brass. Mellowness takes precedence over blast.

Foundational: Rich Dole (left) anchors his colleagues on bass trombone. 

The occasion Tuesday night was the debut of a new ensemble, the Naptown Trombone Collective, shining throughout a host of good arrangements. Arrangements and originals by co-leaders Dole and Brian Pattison varied the parade of jazz standards and works by famous mentors and role models like David Baker and Slide Hampton. 

Baker (1931-2016), the influential jazz educator and originally a trombonist who turned to jazz cello for most of his career, received the posthumous tribute of Dole's arrangement of his "Harlem Pipes" to start off the set. The five-trombonist front line got a fine ensemble workout throughout this speedy chart. 

A further test of its rapport came with Hampton's arrangement of the classic "Milestones," a performance that served as a prelude to member Chris Van Hof's arrangement of Sonny Rollins' "Blue 7," a blues peppered with staccato chords as the ensemble expanded to six (with the addition of Olander Porter). "Blue 7" long ago enjoyed a deep dive from Gunther Schuller analyzing the composer's version, and Rollins' ability to build a solo from improvisational material he laid out at the start of the solo. The theme, which is not really a tune, suggests all sorts of possibilities, which the new arrangement exploited. 

Dole's arrangement of "All Too Soon," a lesser-known Duke Ellington ballad of exquisite poignancy, was revelatory.  The chart ends with three rich chords — so mellow that I wanted to take them home with me and put under my pillow.

Pattison got an extensive spotlight with his "Behind the Glass," a challenging piece for the Collective's basic five front-line members. A highlight was Chris Pitts' piano solo, which seemed to expand on Pattison's compositional ideas while drawing the piece together at the same time.  It was evident to me that Tommy Neidecker's trombone solo, which followed, drew inspiration from Pitts' exhibition.

Neidecker also contributed to my mental anthology of great solo breaks (a topic I covered recently on Facebook), launching his solo with a sizzling outburst, on Slide Hampton's "Say When." The set-ending  performance featured round-robin solos, so trombonist Chaz Rhodes was drawn in besides those I've already mentioned, as well as Pitts, bassist Thomas Brinkley, and drummer Chelsea Hughey.

This is an ensemble that Dole took pains to describe as both nice people and fine players. It was a pitch to anyone in the audience inclined to hire the Naptown Trombone Collective, as well as patrons who might put the group on their local "must-hear-again" list and hang out with them if the opportunity arises.

[Photo by Rob Ambrose]