Chris Potter Underground: Follow the Red Line

After giving this group a few listens I'm really starting to get into Chris Potter's Underground.  The album I've checked out the most is the live CD Follow the Red Line, and if you're at all into jazz fusion I highly recommend it.  The group consists of leader Chris Potter on tenor sax, Nate Smith on drums, Adam Rogers on guitar, and Craig Taborn on the Fender-Rhodes keyboard.  All of Chris Potter's melodies are extremely funky, and the solos are utilize interesting rhythms and repeated motifs throughout the album (particularly by Potter and Rogers).  I was particularly impressed by Nate Smith who backs up the band with virtuosic, complex rhythms on every track, but still provides an excellent groove.

My main complaint with the group is that they often have very long and spacey sections that just seem to ramble on.  It's easy at times to lose interest when the band stops grooving and just plays avant garde riffs with no real rhythmic foundation for minutes on end, but eventually these segments are always ended by a funky Nate Smith drum beat.  Another problem I had was the lack of a bass player.  Taborn holds it down on the low end and Smith's beats are busy enough that little bass is needed, but I generally prefer the sound of real bass over keyboard generated basslines (being that I play bass, I am somewhat biased in this area).

My favorite tracks are probably Arjuna, Viva las Vilnius, and Train, because they seem to have the grooviest jams.  The iTunes version of the album has a cover of Radiohead's "Morning Bell" which is better than I expected it to be and much less pretentious than Brad Mehldau's cover of "Everything in it's Right Place."  However, though I enjoyed the track, it takes a long time to build up to a satisfying energy level, and I generally disapprove of covering Radiohead.  Nobody can play their music close to as well as they can and it's my opinion that it's better not to try.

For more of Chris Potter's music, I would check out his playing with bassist Dave Holland, particularly on the quintet album Prime Directive.