Look inside "Today's Tomorrow". There are beautifully wrought pieces of jazz, adorned with space and brilliance.
Alto Saxophonist, Composer & Bandleader Justin Chart, and his ever changing cast of sidemen have created something new and compelling.
In a world of auto tuned AI, and copy and paste, Justin Chart shows us that he can write an incredible piece of music, yes, on the spot while he is playing it, and seamlessly and fluidly do what few can do.
Sure, many jazz artists improvise with ease, however that is within the construct of a pre-written song.
Chart intuitively writes the melodies, rhythm, calls chord changes and pulls it off like he had played it a dozen times before.
Chart is a force of nature as well as a master improvisational architect, both subtle and sophisticated.
Piano man Saul somehow both cinematic and funky, chiming with sonorous rhythm embraces Chart's pathway to shine with his spectral signature.
Each signature has its own emotional voice, and each emotion has its own unique outcome.
When put in the right pair of hands, the bass can balance groove with grace. Peter Marshall lays the grooves for Chart to take wing so fluidly. Marshall gets a spectrum of sound that is balanced, dark, rich and gnawing, and he is able to combine and communicate these at will.
Justin Chart and crew play so tightly with imagination and forward-thinking, yes this falls in the category of jazz, but it's so much more sonically. A man who says something without words, is remarkable.
Chart, Marshall, Saul and Lobato push their musical boundries with bravado. Their versatility and harmonic combinations converge so well. This album sounds like it was charted out and rehearsed.
Their musical conversations with each other speak to me as well. Guitaritst Joe Diorio once told me as an artist you have to have something to say. As soon as I heard the first cut on Today's Tomorrow, "Nocturnal Taste" I wanted to give ear to what his horn was saying.
There is shimmering futurism in the way Chart can wrap you in cloak of warm velvet when he wants to:
I have never said this about an artist, many of his riffs give me the chills. "A Velvet Vortex," is like a cool breeze on a hot summer night. It rings of balladry, through chiming cascades of Charts fluid virtuosity.
"My Point of True" is fast, graceful and grooves moving through ever-changing patterns as the musical ideas flow from Chart to Saul from Marshall to Lobato, these guys paint with style in their sound, it is truly remarkable. a shot of sound!
I love that Justin Chart keeps on putting out fantastic live albums, great live jazz albums like this are far and few between. He writes his melodies in the moment.
"A New Set of Keys" is a sassy tune, upbeat, soulful, full of energy, slightly euphoric and driven by Marshalls bass, and Chart's catchy riffs.
It feels like the vast LA landscape I picture Justin Chart living in, vast and layered with depth and imagination.
Hard Bop, I love the way Chart fires off riffs like a peregrine falcon flying through the canyons.
Fans of jazz, those looking for something truly new and different should also sign on just to hear the magic of how these four gentlemen are truly symbiotic sound giants.
Chart is an artist who has a greater purpose. No tricks or gimmicks. You can hear the substance and longevity in Charts melodies, just turn up "Happy For Sure".
A beautiful bittersweet refrain for sure!
Feel the blunt punch of drummer Robert Lobato, he's right on the money, with sophistication and solid grooves.
"Mid Moment" is a sublime and soulful emotive drift reminding me the power of this album is a sound that could define the word jazz, Cha-Ching Messrs. Chart, Marshall, Saul and Lobato!
Third time listening to "Better Than Jazz" two words: Throbbing Frenzy!
"We All Disappear" Chart's Post Bop riffs set the vibe as Marshall and Lobato move into more energetic realms.
Cool is not something you can work at, you either have it or you don’t. Chart may not be "The Birth of The Cool" but he is a man of the cool for sure. Easily and effortlessly.
There's a soulfulness to this album, it's these four gentlemen playing with a controlled loss of control. You can feel Charts rage and passion woven together, both glorious and beguiling.
Today's Tomorrow. A deep title indeed. Most people would obviously think today is tomorrow.
If you ponder this sagacious title you realize it is the awareness and sensation of tomorrow, felt today.
I can't help but wonder if that is what Chart is trying to convey.
I listen to the masters, Stitt, Monk, Evans and Getz and many more.
They would all welcome Chart in today, and Today's Tomorrow.
