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The Ray Anderson Quartet
Bonemeal: Live at Paula Jean's Supper Club(Raybone)
Trombonist Ray Anderson has worked in a wide variety of situations, ranging from avant-garde outings with Anthony Braxton, Barry Altschul, George Lewis, Anthony Davis, Gerry Hemingway and others, to more straight-ahead dates with organist Barbara Dennerlein and with George Gruntz's concert band, to his funk-based group, the Slickaphonics.
This self-produced live quartet date with guitarist Steve Salerno, bassist Mark Helias and drummer Matt Wilson shows his jazz and blues side—but it's straight with a twist. There's some nice interplay between Anderson's trombone and bluesy guitarist Steve Salerno—their sounds mesh well on the album. Anderson brings an old New Orleans feeling to some of his playing—as on "Kind of Garnerish," where his playing becomes vocal and guttural, with slurs and growls.
Some other nice pieces are the ballad "Green Eyes Fireflies" and a version of the title track of his 1992 Gramavision release, "Blues Bred in the Bone." Anderson also sings on "Snoo Tune," written for his son, and the humorous and bawdy blues "Microwave Woman." I prefer his 'bone playing, but the singing adds variety to the date.
On this date Anderson and his quartet exhibit both passion and a sense of fun; you can tell that the musicians love playing.
— Alan Lankin, January 2001
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last update 6 February 2001