{"id":3437,"date":"2014-01-01T22:21:10","date_gmt":"2014-01-01T22:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jazzusa.com\/mary-ann-mcsweeney-thoughts-of-you\/"},"modified":"2011-01-01T22:21:10","modified_gmt":"2011-01-01T22:21:10","slug":"mary-ann-mcsweeney-thoughts-of-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jazzusa.com\/?p=3437","title":{"rendered":"Mary Ann McSweeney – Thoughts Of You"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MaryMary Ann McSweeney
<\/font>Thoughts Of You<\/font><\/b>
(Jazz Magnet – 2001)
by John Barrett<\/font><\/p>\n

This bass is deep: woody notes, big vibrato, and a propulsive pace that goes beyond walking. Mary Ann McSweeney blends the traditional bass approach with modern bursts of melody – “R.B.’s Tribute”, for Ray Brown, opens with a step-step-stretch-step. The theme is a blues, told by Mike Fahn on a weary trombone. He turns feisty on the solo, with Donny McCaslin likewise on tenor … all as Mary Ann stays her course. She bows the intro to “Stillness”: quite solemn, and lots of vibrato. She’s surrounded by echo, as Henry Hey floats lonely chords. Donny’s soprano is placid, giving way to Fahn’s moan – the piano resounds, and McSweeney gets busy. It’s a little disjointed, but the mood is right: a worried fog, hiding mystery in the stillness. <\/p>\n

All of a sudden things move: “Yes and No” has a heady kick, from Tim Horner’s cymbals to the splashy piano. The sax-trombone blend is quite striking; Donny rasps as Mike burbles warmly. On his solo, McCaslin is strident – his notes slither by, brusque and bold. Fahn answers with dignity, and the luster of a French horn; Mary Ann skips strongly, and the heat is intense. Leisure reigns for “Winter on the Bay” (the rhythm waltzes slowly, while Donny takes a spin) and “Amazing Grace” rolls down a ’70s strut, on new harmonies and a Fender Rhodes. Henry Hey’s in his element, ringing the keys with loving fervor. (It reminds me of the old Creedence tune “Long as I Can See the Light”.) Congas boil, McCaslin walks the mean streets – this is an urban “Grace”, and it’s very welcome. <\/p>\n

“Nana’s Tango” takes the famous rhythm and fits it to the contours of “You Stepped Out of a Dream”. The bass is prickly, reacting to Hey’s mannered solo. Donny moans like an oboe, zipping between some very high notes. Mary Ann then slows it down: lonely notes, vibrating broadly, all told in sadness. <\/p>\n

The waltz returns on “You Don’t Know What Love Is” … this time in a grittier hue. The tempos keep changing but the tension stays high; here too is Fahn’s best solo, restless and rough. A trio brings us home, with “Thoughts of You”: still bass, fluttering keys, drifting brushes, and the persistent breath of romance. In the middle it gets vigorous, as Hey makes his hands wander; Horner starts slapping and the night air falls. Mary Ann starts like brown on her solo, then strums for a chimelike sound. This group is well, its tunes moody and melodic … and the thoughts are plentiful. <\/font><\/p>\n

\t <\/body><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mary Ann McSweeneyThoughts Of You(Jazz Magnet – 2001) by John<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jazzusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jazzusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jazzusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jazzusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jazzusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jazzusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3437\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jazzusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jazzusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jazzusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}