Jeff Tain Watts: 107 Steps
Musicians:
Jeff "Tain" Watts (drums),
David Gilmore (guitar), Dave Kikoski (piano), Eric Revis (bass)
.Composed by Bjork, Sjon and Lars von Trier
.Recorded: Blue Note, New York, February 7-8, 2005
Rating: 95/100 (learn more)
The drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts has a fertile imagination, to say the least. How he transposed Bjork’s slow and sweeping “107 Steps” into a burning, swinging jazz tune is beyond this writer, and a testament to Watts’ skill as an arranger. And yet it’s all there in Bjork’s original recording: that great, syncopated bass line, the melody, the changes… it just took a great mind to hear it. And a great band to play it right. Watts, behind the kit, is an undeniable force, and the tenor saxophonist Marcus Strickland is a strong and flowing improviser, simply erupting with ideas. The guitarist David Gilmore, heard elsewhere with Don Byron and Steve Coleman, is no slouch either: phrase after phrase, Gilmore digs in with precision, and striking fluidity.
Reviewer: Brad Farberman
Tags: 2000s jazz · björk covers · bjork covers · drums
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