Mark Sherman - "Family First"

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Mark Sherman, part of the bustling NYC jazz scene for a quarter century, belongs to the small group of premier post-bop vibraphonists wielding mallets today. His albums receive glowing reviews and nestle in the Top 10 of the radio charts, and he's regularly sought out to perform at leading venues in North America and in Europe (he's recently back from an Italian tour.) Sherman's brand new recording, Family First, out March 20 on the City Hall Records label, featuring his working band - Joe Magnarelli on trumpet and flugelhorn, pianist Allen Farnham, bassist Dean Johnson, drummer Tim Horner - further shows why the native New Yorker's a favorite musician of so many.

On a program of expertly arranged originals and carefully picked standards, Sherman is heard to possess what every jazz artist worth his or her salt strives for but only a relative few achieve - an individual sound. His tone is somewhere between a bell-like luminance and a smooth low luster. There's both sensitivity and strength existing in that personal sound of his, and his spontaneous streams of crisp, glistening notes in solos throughout the new album show narrative clarity, abundant inventiveness and, not least, deeply felt emotion. In his accompaniment, there's something of master vibesman Milt Jackson's sonic elegance to be had. Obviously, Sherman took to heart suggestions given him years back as a young percussionist studying with the great drummer Elvin Jones: swing loose but with intensity while channeling spiritual energy into the music.

Sherman explains himself well in the notes he supplied for Family First: “The music you are hearing is a culmination of my life study of the art of improvisation and the art of composition. The striving for the continuous study of sound and harmony brought to us from the great masters of our time. [John] Coltrane, [Igor] Stravinsky, McCoy [Tyner], Elvin [Jones], Bags [Milt Jackson], [Bela] Bartok, [Sonny] Rollins and many others have planted the foundation for the music and it is up to my generation and the generations to come to continue to try to develop what has been left for us.”

Indeed. Sherman's development makes for both exquisite and exciting listening. Self-composed “Explorations” is his harmonically dense and altogether enthralling nod to Coltrane and the great man's arpeggiated onslaught, “sheets of sound.” “Fantasize,” another original, has a lilting, life-affirming quality to it - all five band members frolic in a purposeful fashion. Sherman's title track, “Family First,” points up how wonderfully Magnarelli's unerring flugelhorn and his vibes combine in an immaculate unison that, says the bandleader, defines the “sound” of the band; most definitely, all five musicians bask in the glow of melody and harmony. The bandleader's gift for composing is apparent on “With Hope” - the rich, open-hearted melody goes to Magnarelli and Sherman and the harmonies offer up all manner of creative possi bilities for the two's respective solo flights. Dean Johnson's expertly played string bass takes on an uncorrupted sunniness here.

With conga player Chembo Corniel added, Sherman and his ever-dependable band tear through Paquito D'Rivera's “Wapango” with a disciplined fieriness that captures the potency of straight Cuban and Afro-Cuban music. The ballad “Lazy Autumn” not only shows the impressive composing and arranging gifts of pianist Allen Farnham but also his sure touch on the 88 keys and the empathy he shares with his bandmates-jazz as hushed poetry. Sherman titled his song “Symmetrical” after three different tonal centers and a bridge at the core of its construction-all five players, perhaps drummer Tim Horner over all, are keen to how emotional shadings are kept in the service of the song.

Sherman closes his album with stirring interpretations of three borrowed songs. His take on Joe Henderson's “Punjab” references the tune's origins in the historic Blue Note era without being the least bit musty-the steady flow of music from the band is very much of the present in its detail and spirit. Age-old “We'll Be Together Again” shines again with the musicians paying fealty to the strong melody and Sherman taking a quietly powerful approach in his inventive soloing; the vibist responds ever so favorably to the harmonic options offered up by this resourceful and imaginative arrangement by band member Farnham. Album closer “A New Blue” runs quick with Sherman and friends evoking blues feeling, their collective sound drawing out the great emotion built into the song by its venerable composer-saxophonist Jimmy Heath.

Sherman has been making exceptional music in NYC for decades, but he's now playing at his highest level of emotional exposition and creativeness. Born in the Bronx and schooled at Juilliard, where he befriended Wynton Marsalis, Sherman has naturally gravitated to the company of jazz's la crme de la crme: singers Jackie & Roy, Peggy Lee, Tony Bennett, Mel Torme, Ruth Brown, Jon Hendricks, Lena Horne; guitarists Larry Coryell, Rodney Jones, Joe Beck; saxophonists Tom Chapin and Mike Brecker; bassists Jay Leonhart and Lonnie Plaxico; pianists Kenny Kirkland and Mike Renzi; drummers Grady Tate and Ronnie Burrage; other luminaries, too.

The dexterous vibes player and occasional percussionist has made eight well-regarded feature albums to date and contributed to several dozen others. In addition to Family First, Sherman's current band with Magnarelli, Farnham, Johnson and Horner also plays on his 2005 album One Step Closer (special guest: #1 jazz saxophonist Joe Lovano). When not in the studio or performing in clubs and at festivals, Sherman is a world-class educator, leading master classes at high schools and bastions of higher learning like the Julliard School, the Peabody Conservatory and the University of Southern Mississippi. His special system for teaching jazz improvisation has been a tremendous success, favored by Berklee College of Music professors and others in music education.

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