Nick Moran Trio - The Messenger (2006)

Tracklist

01. Papa George
02. The Messenger
03. Indigo City
04. Sensory Awakening
05. The Secret Life
06. That Greasy Stuff
07. The Black Rose
08. Perfect Moment
09. Shorter Steps

Nick Moran is a guitarist with an extraordinary touch and compositional sensibility. This project reveals Nick’s terrific understanding of melody and harmony, and more so, how to explore all of the colors of sound in the organ trio. Together with sidemen Ed Withrington on organ and Andy Watson on drums the band develops some very original contemporary themes and motifs.

This exciting set features nine original tunes by Moran that demonstrate a broad range of styles, from the down-home funkiness of Papa George to the lyrical introspection of Indigo City. The title track offers a contemporary sound coupled with a driving hard-bop swing section. On the high-energy Sensory Awakening, the trio burns with finesse. The Secret Life begins mysteriously, evoking a 60’s-era spy thriller soundtrack that eventually eases into a gentle mid-tempo bossa. The crackling drum intro to That Greasy Stuff sets off the in-the-pocket groove of this funky, 18-bar minor blues. Everyone takes sizzling solos here. The Black Rose is utterly poetic, driven by Watson’s beautiful mallet work. Like many tunes on this CD, Perfect Moment is a mix of the modern and the classic: the spacious opening pushes the boundaries of the classic organ trio sound both aurally and harmonically before settling into a samba groove. The CD closes with the rock-tinged Shorter Steps, a tribute to the compositions of Wayne Shorter which also recalls Pat Martino’s Joyous Lake-period. Moran’s sound here is unlike anything else on the CD, betraying his rock roots and his way of incorporating them into a jazz setting.

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