The first thing that struck me about this record was the intruiging choice of music. There is a focus on jazz standards; including Joe Henderson's 'Inner Urge', Cedar Walton's 'Bolivia', Thad Jones' infectious 'Three In One', and Duke Ellington's 'It Don't Mean A Thing'. Tom Jobim's largely-ignored 'Zingaro' is also included (click here to view or print a lead sheet). There are also 4 tunes on the record written by Dave Young, in which he somewhat surprisingly reveals himself to be a composer with an interest in 'modern harmony'. "Inner Urge" is most definitely a bass player's album. Dave takes part in playing the melody on no less than 7 of the 9 tracks. His agility on the instrument is never more evident than on his composition "Sir William", when, after playing the difficult, rather angular melody in unison with guitarist Reg Schwager, he showcases an exceptional ability with a bow, soloing at a tempo that would have most bass players putting their bows away. His use of the bow throughout the record is uniformly excellent. His intonation is never in question, and he avoids the "sawing wood" tone that many other bassists seem to extract from their instrument when bowing. Dave seems to have picked the right combination of sidemen to work with for the record. Guitarist Reg Schwager and drummer Michel Lambert are also members of Dave's regular working band. The inclusion of Michel Lambert in particular interested me. Michel often eschews many of the cliche figures many drummers will play in straight-ahead settings, in favour of fresh, very individual ones. Even on the very straight-ahead numbers like 'It Don't Mean a Thing' or 'Three In One', when the soloists play phrases deeply entrenched in the bebop tradition, Michel will react to them differently than a bop drummer would, and the results are always interesting, often prodding the soloist to play something they might normally not play. Of course, as with all great musicians, Michel's individuality stems not from ignorance of the genre, but from a desire to bring something new to the music. Reg Schwager, as always, brings a highly focused energy to the recording. His playing grows out of the bop tradition, but he sounds very little like a traditional bop player. People familiar with his playing know he can coherently move from ideas rooted in swing music to much more 'free' music within the context of a solo. On 'Three In One' in particular, Reg sounds inspired, taking the first motive of the melody, and developing it harmonically and rythmically throughout his solo. For guitarists outside of Canada who are unfamiliar with Reg, perhaps this is a good place to start, due to the availability of this record. Vibraphonist Gary Burton appears on 3 of the albums' tracks; 'Inner Urge', 'It Don't Mean A Thing', and 'Bolivia'. And although it's hard not to get the feeling that his appearance on the record was 'a session' (the geographical reasons alone are evidence enough), his playing is excellent throughout. The sound of this CD is also very good. Gary Burton is recorded so the lower notes of the vibes are panned to the left, and gradually pan to the right for the higher notes. The engineer seems to have captured the sound of Reg Schwager's guitar particularly well, also. You can order 'Inner Urge' online at Music Boulevard, or get further album information from their site by clicking here. You can also view, or order Two by Two (the piano duet albums), plus Volume 2, and Volume 3.
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