It’s a good thing this record sounds so fine. Otherwise, I might be tempted to turn into a catty movie critic and say simply, “How Passion Fails,” and call it a day. But the fact is that this, Mayfield’s second CD of original music on Basin Street, can stand up against the better neo-classical mainstream jazz that’s out there.
To discover this, you have to get past the packaging, which depicts dapper Mayfield in various romantic poses with an attractive model. (It feels like a commercial for “Jazz–A Fragrance for Men.”) Casting himself as Romeo with a trumpet may seem, to some, like the height of narcissism from the 23-year-old, but, in his defense, it’s in keeping with the record’s musical concept.
The ten original selections (one “hidden” at the end) deal with an age-old theme: romance, and its often tragic consequences. The song sequence illustrates a cycle of initial attraction (“The Illusion,” “Adam & Eve”), fixation (“The Obsession,” “Othello & Desdemona”), giving way to betrayal (“The Affair,” “David & Bathsheba”), bitter disillusionment and, finally, acceptance (“The Reality”), also known as The Blues.
This theme obviously provides Mayfield with intense personal inspiration (what occupies an artistic young man’s thoughts more than tragic romance?), and he develops it superbly, connecting with universal appeal not only through the biblical and Shakespearean references, but with lush, poignant, blues-based arrangements, fleshed out by passionate yet subtle musicianship.
The crisp, energetic interaction of the young rhythm section (bassist Edwin Livingston, drummer Jaz Sawyer and pianist Richard Johnson), together with Mayfield’s improved tone, phrasing and overall expressiveness on his trumpet, represents a quantum leap forward from his Basin Street debut two years ago.
When he doubles up with rising star saxophonist Aaron Fletcher, as on “Adam and Eve,” a tasty Afro-Cuban blues with Bill Summers on percussion, the texture is sublime. In fact, Fletcher’s warm, fluid playing consistently shines, making it difficult to detect the difference when seasoned sax-man Donald Harrison sits in on “David & Bathsheba.”
Piano patriarch Ellis Marsalis plays on “Romeo & Juliet,” a gorgeous ballad duo with Mayfield, but my favorite is “The Denial,” which features trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis (who also produced the album). It’s a catchy swinger with a funky bass line and wicked call and response between the rhythm section (asking, “Are you cheating on me?”), and the horns (proclaiming innocence).
Complete with an enhanced CD-ROM facet (featuring a video with Wynton Marsalis commentary) and six-panel liner notes with a short story by Anthony Foxx (about the existential realizations of a lovesick young man), this is probably among the most elaborately (and expensively) produced jazz CDs released this year.
But it’s by no means the most original. A feeling of deja-vu pervades: “Hasn’t Wynton Marsalis put out records just like this?”
Yes, but imitation can be forgiven when it produces beautiful music, as it does here.
