Single review: Tony Adamo and the New York Crew – General T (from Tony Adamo in New York) (SaintJaz Records)
One of the words ad hucksters frequently use, probably from their in-house shrinky-dinks, is “experience.” Examples are many: “Experience the luxury of fine leather,“ or “Experience that feeling of owning the road.” The suits have turned the word bland. Now when this reviewer tells you that listening to vocalist/spoken-word artist, Tony Adamo is an experience, I’m telling you that what you will hear covers a spectrum that will surprise, startle, and paint pictures, and in doing so, creates vivid experience.
Adamo’s moody and broody General T, recently plucked and remastered from his Tony Adamo and the New York Crew album (Urbanzone Records, 2015) and now released as a single, is yet another example of Adamo’s best stuff. The central subject at hand is one “General T,” a play on vocalist, Leon Thomas (late of “The Creator Has a Master Plan,” done with Pharaoh Sanders). The title and image of General T is also inspired by a real-life – and thoroughly jazzed-up – military friend of the artist.
Mike Clark’s drums sizzle from beat one before Adamo launches into his trademark spoken word tale with the horns underneath delivering slow, and somewhat dark, mood tones. The rhythm section invigorates as Adamo’s reverbed voice and pungent lyrics tell the story which, gravitating out of a scene at the Village Vanguard, grows in intensity. Adamo’s slick lyrics throb and nab your senses in their imagery. The listener is shrewdly goaded by the lines and vibe to repeat play so as to catch all elements obvious and subtle.
Adamo’s wordings are well-crafted and full of hipster buzz words that do sizzle. You get a jazz history lesson which each stanza. The overall perspective one senses from this tale is a driving, dynamic, funky landscape, festooned with all of the ancillary trappings of hipsterdom.
The ensemble supporting Adamo is A-1. The rhythmic feel is free, yet well-tied to the words. Trumpeter Tim Ouimette’s arrangement is hand-glove with the overall tone of the verbiage. Saxophonist Donald Harrison, pianist Michael Wollf, bassist Richie Goods, and drummer Mike Clark all shine. Clark particularly drains every tonal element out of his set to support.
Over the course of jazz history, there have been many who have merged – or attempted to – lines with lines. Remember the Beat poets of Kerouac’s time? Some mergers were comedic, think Lord Buckley. Others such as Gil Scott-Heron later on, brought more of a political and social message with the music. Adamo is unique in that his game is hipster historical and jazz educational without him being an elitist or a phony. He is a talented, visionary artist who knows his stuff and better yet, delivers it in a way that ignites experience. Nick Mondello
at 20:41