| 3 Star Review from June '09 Downbeat Magazine |
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The slow, bluesy strut of the title track kicks off the album with flair. Jennifer Sannon’s punchy vocals and Jonathan Batiste’s dissonant Monk chunks, along with Jackson’s cogent second-line time, project a cool confidence. With a melody urgent and playful, the number lingers in the memory long past tuba man Vincent Gardner’s solo march into the distance. Jackson generally plays it simple on Wheelz. His musical personality is more restrained, humbler than on previous recordings. While his clear, declarative statements and straightforward grooves serve the music well much of the time, several moments cry out for more activity from the drums. For example, the uplifting “Spiritual,” ostensibly the album’s emotional climax, falls flat for want of more rhythmic energy.The recording is most engaging at its least predictable. The angular, Latin-tinged “I Gotchu” takes a striking turn after the final go-around of the head, modulating a central motif into a swinging coda, with trombone and muted trumpet floating on air. Accordingly, a musical high point for the New Orleans shake “Shimmy Pop” comes on an abrupt two-beat silence in the middle of the head, a moment at which Jackson’s abstinence is welcomed. —Eric Bishop for Downbeat Magazine, June 2009 Wheelz Keep Rollin’: Wheelz Keep Rollin’; Luscious; I Gotchu; Shimmy Pop; Especiale; I Got Got; Spiritual. (34:47) |
Ali Jackson’s first studio release as a leader is a stylish hodgepodge—Latin here, straightahead swing there—loosely bound together by a refreshing, buoyant spirit.