It’s been three years, but Maine’s premier jazz guitarist, Mark Kleinhaut, shows no signs of rust on his fifth full-length release, Holding the Center. After a pair of albums collaborating with first trumpeter Tiger Okoshi and then saxman Bobby Watson, Kleinhaut has returned here to his three-piece roots with another solid disc of interesting compositions immaculately played.
Starting in the album’s introduction, a classical Latin piece played on a nylon-stringed acoustic, with the voices of playing children in the background (recorded during a trip to Cuba), Kleinhaut consistently augments his proven style with creative nuances that move his sound forward without abandoning what makes him a must-listen. When that “Intro to Sister Cuba” melds into “Sister Cuba” proper, Kleinhaut reverts back to his trusty electric six-string and launches from that opening salvo into impressive runs up and down the fretboard.
The album’s title track echoes Light’s “Erikita” with bassist Jim Lyden’s bowed bass break, but pairs it with a lyrical segment that might recall Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime” and other phrases that aren’t afraid to be plenty pop. “Erika’s 8:30 Rule” features what might be pedestrian scratching for hip-hop fans, but there is an interesting juxtaposition with Kleinhaut’s guitar, pedaled to sound like a Moog or Hammond, even trying to lend a keyboard-player cadence to his lines. The bass and drums later only barely seem to acknowledge the scratching, like a nerdy mash-up.
My only quibble with the album might be in the mix, where Les Harris’s drums are often too high, stealing from a subtle guitar line. Otherwise, this is a fine, and fun, jazz disc that further cements Kleinhaut’s place in the jazz lexicon.
Mark Kleinhaut Trio | June 10 | First Universalist Church, Yarmouth | 207.712.7360
On the Web
Mark Kleinhaut: www.markkleinhaut.com
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Sam Pfeifle: sam_pfeifle@yahoo.com
