Tom Wakeling: West by Northwest

CELLAR MUSIC (RELEASED FEBRUARY 7, 2025

Take four under recorded, yet seasoned, regional jazz musicians, add ten familiar tunes and you have the makings of a straight-ahead hard swinging session. That’s the formula for Portland-based bassist Tom Wakeling’s West by Northwest, the latest edition to Cellar Music’s growing catalogue of retro hard bop recordings. Wakeling has been leading this quartet for five years and it shows on this live date from The Ravenscroft Center in Scottsdale, Arizona. The quartet of Wakeling on bass, Jason Carder on trumpet, Angelo Versace on piano and Dom Moio on drums is as tight as any group working in this idiom. They start off with the hard bop groove of Ellis Marsalis’ “Swingin’ at the Haven.” Wakeling lays down a solid walking bass foundation for Carder’s fiery trumpet flourishes and Versace’s fleet improvisations. The lyrical side of both Carder and Versace are put to good use on Art Farmer’s “Out of the Past” and George Gershwin’s “The Man I Love.” Luiz Bonfa’s “Menina Flor” and Mario Bauza’s “Mambo Inn” give the band a chance to flex their Latin muscles, especially the fluid rhythmic contributions of Moio. They get a chance to blow some blues on Percy Heath’s “Watergate Blues,” a showcase for Wakeling’s prowess on bass. Carder sits out for a tender trio version of Billy Strayhorn’s “Lotus Blossom” and returns with an appropriately burning solo on Kenny Dorham’s “Lotus Blossom.” Of course, no session like this is complete without an Ellington and Monk tune, and the quartet expertly performs one of each — Ellington’s “Angelica/Purple Gazelle” and Monk’s “Evidence.” Except for possibly introducing you to some new players, there is nothing radically new about this well-played session. However, it is refreshing to hear these under recorded musicians embrace the music of which they are passionate — straight-ahead, no nonsense hard bop.

BOTTOM LINE: West By Northwest happened quite by accident. The band showed up for a soundcheck and learned that they could easily record their performance. It was no accident, however, that the result was a solid performance in the straight-ahead hard bop tradition. After all, the band has been working together for the past five years and they know how to swing.