BILLY HART QUARTET

MULTIDIRECTIONAL

Smoke Session Records

Billy Hart, drums; Ben Street, bass; Ethan Iverson, piano; Mark Turner, tenor saxophone.

Drummer extraordinaire, Billy Hart, has composed the opening song on his new album, “Multidirectional.”  Called “Song for Balkis.”  It plays like a suite of music, changing tempos and moods as it grows intensely across ten minutes. The tune is like the slow-motion blossoming of a wild rose. Billy Hart opens the piece percussively, letting his drums introduce us to his composition. Mark Turner enters on tenor saxophone to sing us the melody that Billy Hart wrote by singing into a tape recorder.  When Hart composes, he records either his hums or whistles to archive melodic ideas.  “Song For Balkis” is full of motion. Balkis is actually the Islamic name for the Queen of Sheba. Ethan Iverson on piano makes his voice known, letting the keys fall spontaneously during this arrangement. His notes fall like autumn leaves drifting purposefully towards earth. Hart’s drums are the rich wind shower that keeps the piece moving.

The National Endowment of the Arts (2022) Jazz Master, follows this original composition with the quartet’s interpretation of John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps.”  Hart has long admired the John Coltrane aggregation.  Although he is quite famous for his hard bop swing on the drums, as you can see on his 1964 video with the late, great Jimmy Smith, his ‘swing’ chops developed early in his musical career. That’s Billy Hart keeping the ‘swing’ perfectly in the pocket on “The Sermon.”

On this production, Hart wanted to expand and express himself leaning more towards the John Coltrane style when Rashied Ali was making waves playing Avant-garde, free jazz on his drums. In fact, Hart credits the great Rashied Ali for introducing him to the term and title of his album, “multidirectional.” It describes a sometimes elusive, daring approach to the drum kit. This album explores Billy Hart’s expanding percussive talents in that direction. In the musical community, Hart is also known as Jabili Swahili, or “rock,” a name he earned while working with Herbie Hancock in the famous Mawandishi Sextet.

The Billy Hart Quartet has been a working ensemble for over two decades. Consequently, there’s seamless beauty and warmth in their camaraderie. They are family. This is a ‘live’ recording, and you feel the appreciation coming from their audience. At 85-years-old, Hart is still reaching new horizons. Often, the more exploratory things are provoked on-stage while performing in front of a ‘live’ audience.

“Everybody in the band has had a direction in mind since I met them.  There were times when we got to certain points but never got a chance to record it. We did make records, but we weren’t playing in front of an audience,” Billy writes in his liner notes.

“Sonnet for Stevie” was written and contributed by Mark Turner, their tenor man.  Hart is back to his ‘swing’ mode and bassist Ben Street holds the rhythm section in place like Velcro.

Over time, Hart has worked with the best of the best, including McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Smith, Wayne Shorter, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Charles Lloyd, Branford Marsalis, Joe Lovano, The Cookers, and so many more.

This album is a wonderful showcase of Hart’s constant growth and excellence. It features members of his quartet who may be a generation younger than the award-winning drummer, but who are still respected veterans in their own right. They’re comfortable in their own skin. Their audience feels it. When you listen, you will feel it too.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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