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And that’s not the only thing unusual with this release, a quartet with Elan on piano and David Moore on Fender Rhodes, acoustic bass (Tod Hedrick) as and Andrew Zimmerman’s tenor sax.

And while its in a ‘free’ kind of mode, it’s not ‘improvisational’ in the sense of some of the other albums that have come out recently like Don Cherry, ZAUM or Gratkowski / Robertson / Nabatov / Manderscheid. In fact, the title track, as previously released on a 12” mainly for the showcase of remix by Daisuke Tanabe (he of Burnt Progress 1.1), is even dinner jazz material (unobtrusive not insipid though).

No drums and no dance floor killers. What’s the point you might ask? Well ‘The Pale 45’s’ is off-kilter enough in a sort of Thirsty Ear/William Parker/Matthew Shipp type way and stands out for me.

The opening tracks, ‘Little Last’ and ‘Christmas Song’ have a touch of a cinematic theme to them. The warm tones of Zimmerman never gets too jolly and sometimes the group leave Elan to it on his own like ‘Ruby D’ which gets into that ‘classical’ area of solo piano a la parts of Chick Corea’s back catalogue.

It’s not all serious stuff, see ‘Auntie-Biotics’, but there aren’t any belly laughs either. I think that’s enough warnings but it’s a grower. Get a glass of wine ready and chill out. A few years ago this would have come out all nu-jazz so well done to Mr. Peterson for keeping it old-jazz.

Stop Press;
Listen to the Peterson podcast interview with tracks from the album (includes a John Peel moment and the original of ‘Elvis Presley Blues’ by Gillian Welch).

Hectic Mix nominations: ‘The Pale 45’s’, ‘Ruby D’, ‘Auntie-Biotics’, ‘Scheme For Thought’

Line Up:
Piano — Elan Mehler
Fender Rhodes — David Moore
Tenor Saxophone — Andrew Zimmerman
Bass — Tod Hedrick

Reviewed: Elan Mehler Quartet — Scheme For Thought (Brownswood Recordings) Cat. No. BWOOD021CD Release date: August 2007
Tracklisting:
1 Little Last (6:51)
2 Christmas Song (5:20)
3 Scheme For Thought (7:36)
4 The Pale 45’s (6:23)
5 Muse Suite (9:14)
6 Vals (5:08)
7 Auntie-Biotics (5:11)
8 Ruby D (4:31)
9 Head Trick (6:32)
10 Elvis Presley Blues (5:22)

Links:
www.myspace.com/elanmehlerquartet
7th Sept 5.30 — 9pm The Front Room at the Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer. FREE!
www.brownswoodrecordings.com
www.myspace.com/brownswoodrecordings
www.myspace.com/shakutorimusi
The Vortex Jazz Club www.vortexjazz.co.uk
II Gillett Street, Dalston, London N16 8JH, Bookings 020 7254 4097. Doors open 8.30pm
www.myspace.com/gillianwelch
Jazz Improv LIVE!, Murray Hill Station, P.O. Box 1813, New York, NY 10156. October 25 — 28, 2007 www.jazzimprov.com/live/