Master guitarist Wayne Goins’ new release reveals a musician of deep feeling, unassailable generosity, and exquisite taste. Chronicles of Carmela is, in fact, the most breathtakingly beautiful new jazz release I’ve heard in years. Goins composed, arranged, and produced all eleven songs and gave his musicians plenty of room to improvise. On the opening tracks, Goins, tenor saxophonist Craig Treinen, and pianist Bill Wingfield conjure images of Wes Montgomery and/or young George Benson sitting in with Atlantic-era John Coltrane and McCoy Tyner. To put this another way: If you play the ten-minute ballad “Dale’s Dream” and your main squeeze doesn’t respond, it’s all over, Jack. Set to a driving groove, “Why Call It Amnesia” builds to a brilliant octaves-and-single-lines guitar solo. “Deborah at Dawn” is a case-study in how to build to a climax and finesse the resolution. “Samba de Solo” cooks. In other highlights, “Kenny’s Hang” pays tribute to Kenny Burrell, and “Choppin’ Wood” delivers a knowing nod to Count Basie’s master rhythm guitarist Freddie Green. Goins and gang end the album on a very high note with “Amnesia (Slight Return).”
In addition to being an outstanding composer and guitarist, Dr. Goins is Director of the Jazz Studies at Kansas State University and co-author of A Biography of Charlie Christian, Jazz Guitar’s King of Swing, which is, without doubt, the best study of Christian yet published. And Carmela, by the way, is the name of his Gibson electric guitar, lucky girl she.
Wayne Goins: Press
Wayne Goins’ first Little Apple release since 2006, Chronicles of Carmela is a showcase not only of Dr. Goins’ guitar and writing chops. Carmela is Wayne’s guitar, and he says in the liners that he drew inspiration from her to write the music in this record (all from his pen). And a varied lot it is, from the bossa nova of “Jasmine’s Day”, the Basie-Hefti groove of “Choppin’ Wood” (for Freddie Green), the balladry of “Dale’s Dream”, to soulful outings like “Why Call It Amnesia” and “Deborah at Dawn” (which could have been written for The Manhattans), to the easy shuffling “Waylayed” and the kick-butt “Chi-Town” shuffle of “Sink or Swim”. There are really ten different strong grooves in this disc.
Carmela herself has this singing tone, and Goins’ sound has a long finish to it that makes his single note runs sound much like a horn. Or, he can play Wes Montgomery octaves, as he gets into on the “Choppin’” opener. Wayne does indeed invoke the Green comping here behind Treinen, Wingfield, and Gordon solos. Wingfield caught my attention quickly, my immediate thought was that I could listen to him play all night but I’ll settle for the near eighty minutes contained here.
There are times when you might briefly hear something familiar in one of these compositions. “Dale’s Dream” strikes an “Isn’t It Romantic” opening, for example, but there proves to be more harmonic tension here. Wingfield proves the expert accompanist here, deftly complementing Goins’ lines, and then Treinen’s, as if they were vocalists. Nice brushwork from Leifer, too.
From “Why Call It Amnesia” until the end of the disc, I heard a lot of Stanley Turrentine in Treinen’s blowing (and that’s a good thing). It’s that soul, the vocal quality that Turrentine had, and Treinen has, too. This track has a nice backbeat, and DeVan’s organ fits right it with this groove. There’s some Wes in the Goins octaves here, this is a sound that would be welcome in my bar any night.
“Deborah at Dawn” is a soul ballad, and Everette DeVan is back again to help. Halfway through, though, the tempo shifts up, and Treinen, Wingfield, and Goins soar. Gordon has a walking intro on “Kenny’s Hang” (the Kenny is Burrell), with a tricky “hang” at the end of each eight bar phrase. Leifer’s drums open the “Samba Solo”, which is a blues with a straight four release. I know you’ll look for familiar pieces in “Waylayed”, starting with a little “Equinox” in the melody, but it’s not a blues, more of an enjoyable Timmons groove. DeVan really gets a chance to dig hard on “Sink or Swim”. Goins calls it a hard shuffle, and it’s a tune that these guys slay the crowd with.
For his supporting band, Goins mostly chose his musical associates from Kansas State University (where he is Director of Jazz Studies) and Kansas City. Pianist Bill Wingfield recently retired after a long tenure as a piano accompanist at KSU, and bassist Gordon Lewis is currently a bass instructor on the KSU faculty. Saxophonist Craig Treinen has a long history of playing in the Kansas City and Topeka areas, including playing lead alto sax in the Boulevard Big Band. He is a doctoral candidate at KSU, where he served as a graduate assistant to Dr. Goins, and is also the Director of Jazz Studies at Washburn University. Drummer Leifer is from Topeka, and has played locally in Kansas City in many bands and participates in Black House Improvisors’ Collective. Everette DeVan is also a special guest with his B-3.
As I said, this is a showcase for all involved, and another very solid Wayne Goins release from the Little Apple.
—Roger Atkinson