Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Todd Coolman & Trifecta: Collectables

2

Todd Coolman & Trifecta: Collectables

By

Sign in to view read count
Todd Coolman & Trifecta: Collectables
Bassist Todd Coolman readily cops to his collections in the liner essay for this delightful date, noting a fondness for accumulating baseball caps, photos and drawings of birds, timepieces, and antique fishing tackle. But it's his collections from the realm of music—also cited in his writing(s)—that shape this date. He's amassed a stockpile of favorite songs over the course of his storied career and he's filled his mental Rolodex with a cache of compatriots ideally suited to different projects. He taps into both lists here, delivering a baker's dozen of tasty musical treats with Trifecta—a trio with pianist Bill Cunliffe and Dennis Mackrel.

Coolman has never been one to needlessly complicate things for the sake of trying to keep up with trends, so don't expect anything from left field here. It's his deep understanding of the music and his direct engagement with his subject(s) and fellow musicians that continually mark him as hipper than hip. Coolman swings hard and susses out the truth that lives behind the musical veils of harmony, melody, and rhythm, so he need not be concerned with keeping up with the "in crowds" that traffic in whacked-out jazz raves, metric brainteasers, and/or avant-garde exploits. He plots a straight-ahead course here and it proves to be a most direct route to musical enjoyment.

These songs sing with the strength of familiarity in the hands of these musicians. All of the music has a lived-in sound without suffering from the played-out feel that can often accompany that level of comfort. Bill Evans' "Funkallero" is groove play at it's finest, the Gershwin-penned "Isn't It A Pity" is a model of balladic comportment, Renee Rosnes' "Jimmy Up, Jimmy Down" swings its way into the consciousness, Mackrel's "With All My Love" presents with lights-are-low Brazilian flavor(s) in the mix, and Harry Warren's "You're My Everything" has to-die-for rhythmic feels that will likely elicit face contortions in the affirmative from those on the listening side of the fence. Through it all, whether serving as the lead voice, conversing through his instrument, or acting as the mechanism that holds everything in place, Coolman demonstrates why he's universally viewed as the complete musician and the real deal.

Track Listing

New Rhumba; We'll Be Together Again; Joshua; With All My Love; Jimmy Up, Jimmy Down; Summer Night; Isn't It A Pity; Funkallero; Prelude To A Kiss; You're My Everything; Out Of The Darkness; Three And One; Flatbush.

Personnel

Todd Coolman: bass; Bill Cunliffe: piano; Dennis Mackrel: drums.

Album information

Title: Collectables | Year Released: 2016 | Record Label: Sunnyside Records

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

What Was Happening
Bobby Wellins Quartet
Laugh Ash
Ches Smith
A New Beat
Ulysses Owens, Jr. and Generation Y

Popular

Eagle's Point
Chris Potter
Light Streams
John Donegan - The Irish Sextet

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.