Anger can be a great motivator. That’s what trumpeter Rachel Spencer discovered while composing “Steamrolling,” a hard-driving post-bop number that appears on her debut album The Next Right Thing. However, the music doesn’t sound so much rageful as defiant and determined. Spencer’s track notes for the album shed some light. “‘Steamrolling’ is something I first wrote to blow off steam over a professional conflict wherein I had a lot of anger for someone ‘steamrolling’ over my values,” she explains, “but as I wrote it, it became more about me blowing ‘full steam ahead’ and charging toward my goals as an artist despite what obstacles I may need to overcome.” That spirit serves her well, as Spencer leads a dynamic sextet through seven original compositions, which she penned during a five-year stretch between the onset of the COVID pandemic and completing her Doctor of Musical Arts.
Following the example of hard-bop hero Blue Mitchell, about whom she wrote her doctoral dissertation, Spencer conjures the golden age of Blue Note Records on “Steamrolling,” with tight ensemble play and plenty of room for gutty solos from the principals. The leader draws first blood with her bright, pugnacious solo, supported by Liam O’Dell’s swiftly striding bass lines, Adam Jackson’s counterpunching drums and cymbals and Andy Langham’s expert piano comps. Spencer cedes the spotlight to Gene Centeno, whose spirited alto sax is equally combative, and then Michael Dease, who showcases his virtuosity with a squabbling solo. Hardly flagging, Langham takes the last solo before the full ensemble comes roaring back in. Spencer took her album title from a mentor’s advice: When confronted with daunting challenges, “just focus on doing the next right thing.”
Following the example of hard-bop hero Blue Mitchell, about whom she wrote her doctoral dissertation, Spencer conjures the golden age of Blue Note Records on “Steamrolling,” with tight ensemble play and plenty of room for gutty solos from the principals. The leader draws first blood with her bright, pugnacious solo, supported by Liam O’Dell’s swiftly striding bass lines, Adam Jackson’s counterpunching drums and cymbals and Andy Langham’s expert piano comps. Spencer cedes the spotlight to Gene Centeno, whose spirited alto sax is equally combative, and then Michael Dease, who showcases his virtuosity with a squabbling solo. Hardly flagging, Langham takes the last solo before the full ensemble comes roaring back in. Spencer took her album title from a mentor’s advice: When confronted with daunting challenges, “just focus on doing the next right thing.”
