Mike Field is a trumpeter from Canada whose music is filled with fun, excitement, and a competitive spirit. His originals have catchy melodies, infectious rhythms, and swing hard. Nashland is his fifth album as a leader, following Ashes, Rush Mode, Attic Jump, and True Stories.
Nashland features Field’s regular quintet, a group also including tenor-saxophonist Paul Metcalfe (his expressive solos are filled with plenty of personality), pianist Mark Camilleri, bassist Russ Boswell, and Davide DiRenzo whose colorful drumming really drives the band. Together the group performs music that is extroverted, filled with close interplay, and looks back towards the hotter jazz sessions of the 1950s while displaying the players’ own musical personalities.
Nashland, which consists of seven of its leader’s originals, begins with “Bad Lessons” which was written in memory of Field having lessons with a major trumpeter who turned out not to be a very good teacher. The piece is reminiscent of “Sing, Sing, Sing” with DiRenzo providing a swing beat worthy of Gene Krupa that inspires heated tenor, piano and trumpet solos. Field expertly builds up his statement to a stirring level.
“Mud Dance” keeps the temperature high while “Pepino and the Engineer” has a strong Latin tinge and is filled with creative solos. “Ballad Of Chet Baker” is a bit of a surprise because, rather than being a laidback performance, it is a medium-tempo romp through the chord changes of “There Will Never Be Another You.”
“Dark Age Detour” is a minor-toned piece that climaxes with a semi-riotous horn tradeoff. “Chicken, Cigars and Leche,” written in tribute to a month that Field spent in Miami’s Little Havana, is quite joyful while the final piece, “Traffic Police” (a tip of the hat to the fearless drivers in the Dominican Republic), serves as a rousing closer.
Listeners who think of jazz as polite background music are advised to look elsewhere. Nashland demands one’s full attention, featuring Mike Field and his talented sidemen in passionate form. It is a joy from start to finish.
Scott Yanow, jazz journalist/historian and author of 12 books including Trumpet Kings
