Press
Steve Millhouse is a veteran New York and Broadway bassist known for championing the
electric bass in jazz and for his chordal mastery on his Fodera 6-string Contrabass Guitar.
His latest trio date with tenor saxophonist Rich Perry and drummer Eric Halvorson furthers
both causes considerably. The unit deftly visits such jazz standards as Benny Golson’s
“Whisper Not,” Thelonious Monk’s “I Mean You,” and Horace Silver’s “Soulville,”
with Millhouse chording for the heads, walking for Perry’s solos, and taking his own
solo flights with the help of Perry’s guide tones. He gives a nod to his instrument’s history with covers of Steve
Swallow’s “Falling Grace” and Sam Jones’ “Seven Minds” — the former buffeted by his bold chord clusters all
over the fingerboard, the latter finding him utilizing 4ths to capture the sound of Cedar Walton’s piano voicings
on the original. Most inspiring, however, are Millhouse’s two originals: On the comfortably swinging “I Don’t Know
Yet,” he underpins his melody (expressively interpreted by Perry) with fresh-sounding three-note block chords, as
Halvorson freely fills the open spaces. And, he introduces the title track via an ear-grabbing fingerstyle bass-and-
chordal figure in 6/8 that unfolds into a memorable Perry-rendered melody over Millhouse’s angular chordal clinic.
–Chris Jisi
コントラバス・ギターが大活躍するモダン・ジャズ
Modern Jazz with active Contrabass Guitar
ニールス・ペデルセンやロン・マクルーアなどアップライト奏者のアルバムを数多く出してきた老舗レーベル“スティープルチェイス”から、
コントラバス・ギターがメインの作品がリリースされるとは時代も変わった。とはいえ演奏は伝統的なモダン・ジャズの範疇に入るもので、
レパートリーにもセロニアス・モンク作（①）、ベニー・ゴルソン作（⑦）といった古典が含まれている。コクのあるサックスやドラムスの響きの間を、
コード奏法も取り入れた6弦が縦横無尽に動き回る形だ。高速パッセージによるサックスとのユニゾンも②や⑥で冴えわたっており、
“モダン・ジャズにおけるエレベの在り方”を示す一作として推薦したい。（原田和典）
The times have changed since the long-established label "SteepleChase", which has
released many albums of upright players such as Niels Pedersen and Ron McClure,
will release a work centered on contrabass guitar.
However, the performance falls within the category of traditional modern jazz, and the repertoire includes classics such as Thelonious Monk (①) and Benny Golson (⑦). Between the rich saxophone and drum sounds, the 6 strings, which incorporates chord playing techniques, move around freely. The high-speed passages in unison with the saxophone are also brilliant in 2 and 6, and I would like to recommend it as a work that shows “the way elebe (electric bass) should be in modern jazz.'' (Kazunori Harada)
