Recent CD from Jazz Guitarist Thom Rotella

from the Amazon.com Web page for this recording

I was not sure what to expect when I downloaded the tracks from guitarist Thom Rotella’s new album Storyline, an album which, as of this writing, is available only for download. While Rotella has worked with such jazz greats as Stanley Turrentine, his “bread and butter” seems to come from providing backup for artists as diverse as Frank Sinatra, Luciano Pavarotti, Cher, Donna Summer, and Norah Jones. I suppose what piqued my curiosity was the opportunity to listen to a new take on Thelonious Monk’s “’Round Midnight,” Wes Montgomery’s “Four on Six,” and Duke Pearson’s “Christo Redentor.”

In spite of the diversity of styles behind these three compositions, Rotella always seems to take an approach that gives a convincing account of the source as a starting point for inventive improvisation. Digging into the details behind repertoire, I discovered that Rotella may be the only leader of an octet whose wind players (Bob Sheppard and Dan Higgins) both play bass clarinet. This makes for some uniquely soulful moments realized through unanticipated sonorities. Backup also includes Mitchel Forman on Rhodes piano, Nick Mancini on vibraphone, and Jimmy Branly on drums. In addition, vocalist Tierney Sutton is featured on “Christo Redentor;” and, unless my ears are playing tricks on me, she may be vocalizing a bit behind the Monk track.

“Storyline” itself is one of five original Rotella compositions. The titles of the others are “Oddball,” “Monkey Business,” “Dawn is Here, “Nuze Bluze,” and “Take it With You.” The album also includes two standards, “When I Fall in Love” and “Besame Mucho.” This amounts to a something-for-everybody diversity with a few unexpected treats. (Sheppard’s bass clarinet work is most evident, not to mention amusing, on the “Monkey Business” track.)

The title of the album seems to reflect Rotella’s opinion that he is a musician who tells stories. Back when I was doing technical research on applications for multimedia software, I did a deep dive into the discipline of narratology. Ever since then I find that any reference to stories tends to put me on an alert, somewhere between Peter Parker’s spider-sense and a “Danger, Will Robinson!” moment. No, one is not going to tease out the “official components” of a narrative in Rotella’s performances; but there are ways in which he brings a “narrator’s voice” to his guitar work. If that is not storytelling, then, as Bille Holliday used to sing, “it will have to do/Until the real thing comes along!”