The Blueprint Project – featuring Cecil McBee and Matt Wilson
The Blueprint Project
Featuring Cecil McBee and Matt Wilson
(Cnm Productions – 2004)
by Paula Edelstein
Jared Sims, Eric Hofbauer and Tyson Rogers met in 1997 while at the New England Conservatory of Music and have recorded two previous CDs including PENDULABRLLUM and NORTH BY NORTHWEST QUARTET. For their third record, THE BLUEPRINT PROJECT, the trio adds Cecil McBee on bass and Matt Wilson on drums. Each member of the trio contributed their original compositions and waste no time in bringing you into their melodic, rhythmic and harmonic qualities. Guitarist Eric Hofbauer’s “High Priest’s Sermon” opens the project. The song’s chord changes and melodic hook take hold early and keep you interested.
Jared Sims’ saxophonics on “Abdullah” a tribute to pianist Abdullah Ibrahim resounds in a free jazz mode. Tyson Rogers has composed an adventurous and extraordinary song as a vehicle for Sims’ use of modal expressions. “The Old Country,” a tango composed by Jared Sims features great guitar, saxophone and piano harmony throughout the song. Wilson and McBee lay down the rhythmic carpet for the trio and keep a solid beat behind the trio’s phrasings. THE BLUEPRINT PROJECT is miles ahead of the trio’s previous releases and exhibits remarkable music growth.
Reprinted with permission of…
