The Michael Marcus Quartet’s new recording, Next Stop Down, is an inspired set of originals that are steeped in the tradition but consistently straining against genre constraints. Featuring Marcus on tarogato, soprano sax, and on one selection, tenor sax (he also bangs a gong), plus Rod Williams on piano, Ricky Rodriguez on bass, and Allan Mednard on drums, the music thrives through an inviting familiarity, but the band is unafraid to get loose, and the compositions brandish some welcome edge. It’s available now on compact disc and digital through the indefatigable ESP-Disk of New York City.
He can navigate jazz’s outer regions with aplomb, but Michael Marcus got his start backing blues heavyweights Albert King and Bobby “Blue” Bland. Moving into the jazz realm, Marcus debuted as a leader with Under the Wire in 1991 for the Enja label with trumpeter Ted Daniel, trombonist Joseph Bowie, bassist William Parker, and drummer Reggie Nicholson in the band.
Since then, Marcus has recorded a ton, including nine releases with saxophonist Sonny Simmons, a fellow Bay Area guy, leading the Cosmosamatics, cut five with Ted Daniel as Duology, and has over 15 under his own name with a variety of players on numerous labels. A key early collaborator was the pianist Jaki Byard, with whom Marcus recorded two albums, both for the Justin Time label.
He also cut two records with the Jus Grew Orchestra, assembled by saxophonist Jemel Moondoc, one for the Ayler label and one for Eremite. More recently, Marcus has been part of the Blue Reality Quartet with horn man extraordinaire Joe McPhee, vibraphonist-percussionist Warren Smith, and drummer Jay Rosen.
This hits the discographical highlights, but across that span, Marcus plays a variety of instruments. Including the axes listed above, there are more saxophones (baritone, bass, C-melody, and sopranino), stritch, manzello, saxello, Conn-o-sax, clarinets (B-flat, A, G, and bass), flutes, and octavin. This isn’t a case of flaunted versatility, as Marcus has often stuck to a single horn when recording an album.
The piano is frequently about melody, but just as often, the 88s establish structure. On Abstractions in Lime Caverns, Marcus’ 2022 release recorded for ESP-Disk, the lineup lacked piano, and the results were looser and tangibly a little less rooted in jazz tradition. Not that Next Stop Down is a straight-ahead sort of exercise, but Rod Williams’ presence—assured, accessible, and with a consistent air of the exploratory—does help to solidify the session as harkening back to the heyday of the serious-minded 1960s saxophone quartets.
Maybe it’s just Marcus’ preference for unconventional horns, but opener “Mr. Monk Time” reminded me a bit of Steve Lacy’s Monk-focused album from 1959, Reflections. The two main differences are that Marcus’ tune is an original homage and that Next Stop Down is clearly a more contemporarily situated album. The production atmosphere is warm, and the players have clearly absorbed the decades of development in their chosen musical style.
Next Stop Down is also a carefully assembled record. Williams’ lays out for two tracks; the first, a wiggly rover where Allan Mednard gives his kit a workout, gets a closing reprise where Marcus goes it totally alone. For “Cafe in Tehachapi,” Williams swings back in, and the thrust is initially more balladic if still questing, but with a sweet redirect into a groove where Ricky Rodriguez gets to throw down some meaty momentum and additionally a huge solo.
“Cafe in Tehachapi” plates up the kind of cooking one wouldn’t be surprised to hear coming from a Bob Shad-produced Mainstream Records album from the midst of the 1970s. At 11 minutes, it’s the set’s longest track, but the “Zephyr Dialogues” is a concise free-flying burner.
It and the title track that follows are showcases for the soprano, a frankly overused instrument that Marcus elevates through sharpness of tone, a disinclination to fall back on repetition, and the whole band’s ability to hit a sweetly progressive mid-’60s advanced post-bop sound in “Next Stop Down!”
“Mindfields in Opulence” is another twisty, shifting bit of business where Williams takes a break. And it’s likely the gong at the start, but “Frequency Bliss” has some post-Coltrane spirituality interspersed with some ’70s Drive-Time on the FM dial Creed Taylor-isms, but with a spot for Rodriguez and Mednard to make it plain that this baby is lacking in any fucking around.
Instead, Next Stop Down is Marcus and his cohort serving up a highly satisfying affair that covers substantial stylistic territory with cohesion. It’s an impressive outing with a tidy duration that encourages repeat listens.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A
