STEVEN HUSTED AND FRIENDS

TWO NIGHTS LIVE

Independent Label

Steven Husted, double bass/composer; Israel Yanez, drums; Milo Hehmsoth, piano; Matt Berger, guitar; Grant Teeple, saxophone.

Steven Husted’s band opens with the familiar jazz standard by Hank Mobley, “This I Dig of You.” The quintet comes out swinging hard. It’s a great way to begin this album, showing off the skills of each member of Husted’s ensemble.

They continue with Clifford Brown’s popular tune, “Sandu.”  Grant Teeple delightfully presents the melody on his tenor saxophone, stepping into the slow swing groove with all the power and excellence necessary to deliver this favorite jazz standard.  Then comes Milo Hehmsoth on piano who offers his own improvised solo.  Beneath Milo’s creativity, Steven Husted walks his bass and locks in the rhythm with Israel Yanez steady on the drums. Then comes Husted’s solo on the double bass, surprising me by playing a great deal of it in the upper register of his instrument. It’s an innovative solo excursion, followed by the trap drums, trading fours with his other band members, and displaying Yanez’s talents on his instrument.

After living more than a decade in New York City, Husted has returned to his roots in Connecticut. Today, he resides in Newington, where he is respected for his depth of musical talent, his dedication to the jazz tradition, and his local gigs as a bandleader. Before moving to the East Coast, Husted packed up at fifteen years old and moved to San Francisco.  That’s where his deep commitment to jazz took shape. By the time he turned twenty-one, he had established himself as a top bassist in the Bay Area.  He taught for six years at the Stanford Jazz Workshop, while playing gigs with legends like Kenny Burrell, Billy Higgins and Vince Wallace.

On this album, he includes several original compositions including “Existential Changes,” a slow shuffle tune called “Bop Top” and a song he titles “Against the Grain.” It features Matt Berger on guitar playing the melody line unison with Husted’s bass at the tune’s introduction. Each of those three tunes are deliciously different, establishing their own grooves, but always swinging. On “Against the Grain,” the guitarist and drummer share a musical conversation, at first trading fours, then two bars each.  They show off their individual talents, while lending their formidable talents to introduce us to Steven Husted’s composition.

This album was just plain fun to listen to, entertaining me not only with their individual talents, but also there is nothing I like more than music that ‘swings!’  Steven Husted and his group of jazz musicians are masters at presenting Straight ahead jazz with swinging tempos that encourage finger snaps and head-bopping.  Eight out of eleven songs feature Husted’s original music. They are inspired compositions, with some of the pieces sounding like jazz standards.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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