Jeff Johnson - E Pluribus Unum - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Bassist Jeff Johnson's third solo for Origin features his 14-year-old trio with saxophonist Hans Teuber and drummer Tad Britton, in a set of collective improvisations, originals, and takes on the pop tunes InchDreamInch and InchThe Good Life.Inch Bassist with the Jessica Williams and Hal Galper trios throughout the '90's, Johnson has recorded 12 CDs and toured the world. InchThe collective improvising here is about as good as it gets.Inch - Jazz Times.

A live recording with a noirish aesthetic, InchFreeInch takes Jazz to a very deep place. Some musicians' work transcends music, exploring the underground river of emotions far at the back of imagination and desire, and it is in that sense that Jeff Johnson's creativity hearkens to Miles Davis. Listening to this CD is all but akin to a drug experience, as Jeff and two longtime bandmates, saxophonist Hans Teuber and drummer Billy Mintz, make time stand still with music which is more question than statement. Johnson has a cavernously rich bass sound, and a perfect foil to Teuber's puckish, quizzical alto sax, with drummer Mintz coloring their every feint. This music is all about flexibility and freedom. Originally released in 1999.

As a teen, bassist Jeff Johnson was inspired by Ernest Hemingway and his way of writing from experience, giving rich, human impressions of events surrounding him. Johnson uses that inspiration as a guide on InchSuitcaseInch as a way to more vividly convey his life experiences through composition and storytelling. Having forged a deeply creative improvisational partnership over the last twenty years with saxophonist Hans Teuber, his decision to team here with newer musical partners - pianist Steve Moore and drummer Eric Eagle - creates a lively balance of the well-known and less-known to assure there will always be more chapters to be written. InchHe plays with a mystique that takes the music out of the ordinary with his inventive improvised lines...Inch - Cadence