CD review: ‘Camp Meeting’

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

By Richard Anderson

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If you’ve never heard of Bruce Hornsby, I’m willing to bet you’re either a classical music snob or you’re a member of an as yet undiscovered tribe in Papua New Guinea. I’d otherwise be at a loss to explain how the pianist who has played with everyone from Elton John and Sting to the Grateful Dead and Ricky Skaggs (not to mention Chaka Khan, Roger Waters, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton and members of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra) could have escaped your notice.

Whatever the case, Hornsby can now add two more names to his list. Bassist Christian McBride and drummer Jack DeJohnette support the most ubiquitous pop keyboardist since Billy Joel on his latest CD, “Camp Meeting,” Hornsby’s first all-jazz disc. Now, Hornsby has collaborated with jazz musicians before – Pat Methany, Branford Marsalis and Bela Fleck come immediately to mind – but those meetings took place in a pop setting. “Camp Meeting” is unmistakably a jazz album, with a set list of compositions by Ornette Coleman, Miles Davis, Keith Jarrett, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell (as well as four Hornsby originals).

Certainly McBride and DeJohnette bring an air of authority and authenticity to the proceedings, but while they are big fish who call these waters home, and they could make even me sound good in a recording studio (well maybe), Hornsby doesn’t rely on them to buoy him. There’s no mistaking him for Herbie Hancock or Bill Evans or even, I don’t know, Elmo Hope, but he ably contributes to the musical invention and presumably even leads it. It is “his” album, after all.

Frankly, that surprised me. While I never doubted Hornsby’s piano chops or his songwriting skills, as any hep cat will insist, jazz is different. It’s jazz, you know? And in this case, it’s not just jazz, but Ornette Coleman, Bud Powell, John Coltrane – not just jazzed up takes on show tunes and torch songs, but hard, honking, heavy jazz. The opening track, Coleman’s athletic “Questions and Answers,” sets the tone, with some cool drum effects, wicked bass work and Bruce finding his way quite deftly for a track that is both challenging and fun.

Hornsby further surprises with a refreshingly low-key version of Coltrane’s “Giant Steps.” Perhaps acknowledging that he’d be hard-pressed to outpace the original, not to mention many of its hundreds of covers, Hornsby takes a relaxed approach that gradually heats up and eventually catches fire. I also dug his takes of Powell’s “Celia” and “Un Loco Poco” – though his pop sensibilities show in the first – and he manages to take Monk’s “Straight, No Chaser” to interesting places in under three minutes.

Jarrett’s “Death and the Flower” comes across as a little squishy, however, while Miles’
“Solar” lacked backbone, but any such shortcoming are more than made up for with the original “Charlie, Woody and You.” My first exposure to the track was in a random five-disc shuffle, and I had to stop what I was doing to listen and asked aloud, “Who the hell is that!?” It’s a great number and an exciting performance that follows its wandering, abstract thoughts all the way through. I dug McBride’s playing, too, which at one point sounded like the sax of some avant-guard icon. The title track, another Hornsby original, also has a lot to recommend it, his “Stacked Mary Possum” is a fun, folksy ripper – a knuckle-busting square dance that seems lifted from another project but fits OK with this set – and his “Chant Song,” which he ends with, is just savage.
Whether “Camp Meeting” represents a new path that Hornsby will continue to explore in future albums or it’s merely a one-off, it’s a worthy and notable addition to his discography and further sets him apart from the pack.
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CD review: ‘Camp Meeting’ | Planet JH News Article: General Music Arts and Culture

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