Album Review: Re-Connection from Greg Loughman

Album:  Re-Connection
Artist:  Greg Loughman
Label:  Self-Released
Website:  www.gregloughman.com

After hours jazz, the type of music one will hear pouring out of the doorways of a string of nightclubs along a New York City strip in the middle of the night, is the type of escape Greg Loughman presents on his latest release Re: Connection.  His collection is reminiscent of the call and response exchanges notably pioneered by the avant garde musicians of the 1960's and '70s like Ornette Coleman, Archie Shepp, and Albert Ayler.

The solos performed by Loughman's array of horn players in "Isolation" is gripping.  Each phrase made by the saxophones, trumpet and clarinet is intense as they intertwine into a lively conversation with Loughman's bass weaving creases into the track. One horn calls to another and a chain of response and reaction commences into an embroiling exchange.  The mass entanglement enables the listener to follow the phrasing of each performer, moving between the panel of musicians.  Contrary to the title of the track, the musicians are quite talkative and collaborate amicably.

This is a recurring theme throughout the recording, the musicians freely communicating and forming collaborative exchanges.  The irregular and angular rhythmic patterns of the musicians in "From All Sides" continues to maintain a collaborative environment.  The musicians form new and original inter-points that conceptually crisscross in linear, vertical, diagonal, and zigzagging patterns, all while following the traditional route of working together and intercepting ideas.

Loughman adds a wind-like swirl with his arco upright bass on "Transition."  The serpentine course of his bass gives the soundscape an exotic vibe that swirls in a hypnotic fashion.  Evoking a wave of collaborative stimulation, the silky threads of the horns ambling along "Grow" produce a relaxing mood, enhanced by the soft twinkles of Anastassiya Petrova's piano keys infusing a refined texture into the music.

Born in Zanesville, Ohio, Loughman currently lives in Boston, Massachusetts, where he earned a Master of Music degree from the Berklee Global Jazz Institute.  Loughman claims that the creation of this music has led him to create an organization called the New England Jazz Connections or NEJC. The mission of NEJC is to connect musicians, audiences, and performance spaces throughout New England and to put on concerts that will raise money for worthy causes.  Similarly to his predecessors, Loughman's music is an escape into the after hours sphere.

Musicians:
Greg Loughman - bass
Nathan Kay - trumpet
Dan Elbert - alto saxophone
Anton Derevyenko - tenor saxophone
Matt Stubbs - clarinet and bass clarinet
Anastassiya Petrova - piano
Tyson Jackson - drums
Nadia Washington - voice
Faris Ishaq - nay
Jerry Leake - percussion
Max O’Rourke - guitar and sounds