Michael Dease’s Tribute to Roy Hargrove

Michael Dease on the cover of his new album (courtesy of DL Media)

Michael Dease, who was born on August 25, 1982, taught himself to play trombone at the age of seventeen. He was skilled enough to join the inaugural class of the Juilliard jazz studies program led by Wycliffe Gordon. More recently, however, he has shifted his attention from low brass to baritone saxophone.

Grove’s Groove is Dease’s second album on which he plays his saxophone on all nine tracks. The title is a reflection on the late Roy Hargrove, whose instruments were trumpet and flugelhorn. It is also the title of the first track on the album, composed and arranged by trombonist Steve Davis, who plays trombone on all of the album tracks. Dease himself contributes only three of the tracks: “Seiko Time,” “Decisions,” and “Father Figure.” These are complemented by two “standards:” Vincent Youmans’ “Tea for Two” and Jay Livingston’s “Never Let Me Go.” Jocelyn Gould provides the vocals for these selections and also plays guitar. There are a generous number of other contributing performers, all of whom are credited on a track-by-track basis in the accompanying booklet.

Grove’s Groove will be released one week from today. As might expected, Amazon.com has created a Web page for processing pre-orders. Those of us that still hold a preference for “straight-ahead” jazz will probably be satisfied with all of the tracks, both Dease’s leadership and the overall balance of his ensemble. Having had some brief encounters with the baritone saxophone in my high school jazz group (my primary instrument was alto), I have to confess to a fondness for its deep sonorities. Dease’s tracks reawakened my memories of those sonorities, and I enjoyed the ways in which they reflected off of Davis’ trombone work.

These days I have no idea what listeners think about jazz, but those that share my fond recollections of the past are likely to be satisfied with what Dease and his colleagues have to offer.