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from Jazz With Bob Parlocha:
William Ash - The Phoenix
from Hot House:
William Ash - The Phoenix
from AllAboutJazz.com:
William Ash - The Phoenix
Review by E.J. Iannelli
The Phoenix is an easy chair album. It isn't just that an easy chair happens to be the ideal place to listen to it;
the album itself is comfortable, familiar, modest, timeless. Taking after Wes Montgomery, an influence William Ash
acknowledges alongside Barry Harris, the guitarist emphasizes economy instead of fireworks, thoughtful precision and
not profligacy. The disc was recorded in a complimentary way that suggests the warm and ambient sound “of a Rock-Ola
jukebox playing your favorite 45s,” a quality producer Luke Kaven mentions in the liner notes. And so when listening
to the eleven tracks on his debut American recording as leader (he has had others in Japan), there is no sense of Ash
feeling as though he has anything to prove. He isn't shouting at us to sit up and take notice. He's calmly asking us
to sit back and take it easy.
Eight of the tracks are originals penned by the guitarist himself, the bluesy groover “Koba,” the refined ”Crystal Bird,”
and the beautiful ballad “Moon Shine” standing out on an album where no song deliberately aims to draw attention to itself.
Most of them are built around the basic framework of the traditional blues format: musical if/then propositions followed by
a long but straightforward development section and then a relaxed closing summary. Drummer Mark Taylor and bassist Dwayne
Burno take infrequent solos. They share the guitarist's equanimity but still achieve a healthy interplay. At one moderately
spirited point on the opener, “Bill's Groove,” Burno and Ash press against one another as if engaged in the physical exercise
of moving from a seated to standing position with only each other's support. While not necessarily groundbreaking, it's
subtly different from the usual solo underpinned by comping, and it creates the sensation of gentle rising and falling
without a strong emotional tie-in. The slow-burning standard “Bewitched” affords the opportunity to hear the two stringmen
working with each other atop the constant dusting of Taylor's brushwork.
Ash delivers a dressed-down version of Lee Morgan's “The Sidewinder,” bridging the slight gaps between rock, swing,
jazz and blues in doing so. His rendition of Charlie Parker's “Constellation” is effortlessly zippy, clocking in below
three minutes in the company of six- and seven-minute tunes. But even this rare long-distance sprint occurs at a tempo
entirely on Ash's own terms, like a man too cool—in the mellow, reserved, confident sense of the word—to become fatigued.
Because of The Phoenix 's lack of lapel-grabbing flamboyance, it's something of a grower, and its most memorable charms
only become apparent after the third or fourth spin. Yet despite the album's apparent reluctance to make a lasting
impression, it does just that.
from JazzNow.com:
William Ash - The Phoenix
Review by Elliott Simon
Coalescing a soulfully mellow sound with a driving dynamic approach, guitarist William Ash has rekindled Wes Montgomery’s finest early ‘60s
flame to reveal The Phoenix. With a sound born of late night jams, Ash stops time by savoring intense, warm grooves or bopping at breakneck
speed. Aided by a deep juicy mix, drummer Mark Taylor and bassist Dwayne Burno supplement Ash’s rich texture to produce a substantial program
of eight originals and three covers. Beginning with the pleasingly melodic “Bill’s Groove” and its surprise hint of “I Wish You Love”
and then moving into the chordally interesting “Crystal Bird,” Ash is in control with a full, “fat” sound and just the right amount
of reverb. The bluesy “Koba” has Ash alternating a tight melody with rhythmic chords to then direct Taylor and Burno through a tuneful
groove before Burno takes charge with a full-bottomed solo. For Lee Morgan’s “Sidewinder,” Ash comps himself for what turns into a serious
take on a tune that can quickly become a caricature. Quick work is made of Charlie Parker’s “Constellation” with delightful speedster runs,
while the Rodgers and Hart Pal Joey classic “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” is given its complete due in a beautiful rendering that
fully expresses each of the three Bs. “Parker’s Rhythm” is just that, as it burns through exciting changes that somehow briefly encounter
Tony Hatch’s “Call Me” until things are brought back to the leader’s own turf with the free and easy “All in Alla.” The release is
given a cohesive sound, thanks primarily to the rich mix and original tunes that begin with a pattern of catchy brief guitar riffs,
followed by quick rhythmical punches, before the trio begins its explorations. Where this session really succeeds, though, is in
translating that live communal feeling of forever to disc. So lay back, crank it up and dig the melodious mythical bird that rises
out of the William Ash trio.
from JazzNow.com:
William Ash - The Phoenix
Review by Lucy Galliher
William Ash, guitar; Dwayne Burno, bass; Mark Taylor, drums
Tunes: Originals by Ash - Bill's Groove, Crystal Bird, Koba, Moon Shine, It, Parker's Rhythm, All in All and Celery. Other compositions on the CD - The Sidewinder, by Lee Morgan; Constellation, by Charlie Parker, and Bewitched, by Rodgers and Hart.
This is a brilliant CD by the Jazz guitarist William Ash. William Ash is an interesting guitarist to listen to, because he has a wide range of dynamics, virtuosity and emotion. Charlie Parker, Barry Harris and Clarence "C" Sharpe were huge influences on Ash. As C Sharpe would say, "Be about it."
Smalls Records is connected to the club Smalls that recently closed down (it was on 10th Street and 7th Avenue) in Greenwich Village. William was a regular performer there, and continues to play at nightclubs and restaurants in the Apple, and also travels to Japan and elsewhere.
"Bill's Groove" - The first cut gets you going. It's a swinging tune in the fashion of Wes Montgomery. Ash kind of tosses it off, but with a feeling of urgency. Without a care in the world, he moves it along, totally living the music.
"Crystal Bird" is a 6/8 Latin tune, but soft and serious, with the drummer doing some great cymbal work.
"Koba" starts out sounding like a blues, but itís deceptively long in form, and interesting harmonically, in that it changes keys. After a compelling guitar solo, Burno shines on the bass.
"The Sidewinder" is a great rendition of the Lee Morgan standard. Ash captures the essence of the tune easily, and itís a finger-snapper. The bassist and drummer are in perfect tune with each other on the rhythm, a boogaloo.
Ash gently plays "Bewitched" in a sensitive manner. Constructing simple chords on the guitar with the melody standing out on top, Ash creates a sophisticated atmosphere, and puts in his own ideas beautifully.
Listening to Bird's "Constellation," I think of Clarence "C" Sharpe, who was a big influence on William (and a friend of mine as well). This was his break tune, and I love it played like this, at extremely rapid speed.
The other songs are filled with rhythmic kicks and swinging solos. Definitely "The Phoenix" is a CD worth repeated listening.
from JazzReview.Com:
William Ash - The Phoenix
Review by Roman St. James
“The Phoenix”, the debut American release from guitarist William Ash’s Trio, is a CD I opened with great anticipation. It has all the elements of a great recording. First, it comes from Smalls Records, the label founded by the owners of the famous N.Y.C. club. The Smalls club (which recently graduated to a larger place and changed their name to “Fat Cat”) has become something of a jazz landmark in New York and I have heard some great recordings come out of the Smalls label. Not only is William Ash a Smalls Records artist, he’s also played weekly at Smalls for the past six years or so, honing his chops with such greats as Jimmy Cobb and Bobby Durham.
On this recording Ash is accompanied by none other than Dwayne Burno on bass and Mark Taylor on drums. Burno has worked frequently with Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Cedar Walton, Roy Haynes, Benny Golson and many others. Taylor has worked with Johnny Griffin, George Coleman, James Moody, Art Farmer, Clifford Jordan and the list goes on. To top it all off, Ash acknowledges that Wes Montgomery (one of my favorite jazz guitarists of all time) is his main influence, and as a result he has been selected several times to appear in tributes to Montgomery. As you would expect, the level of musicianship is superb. Unfortunately, the quality of the recording itself, produced by Luke Kaven, leaves a little to be desired.
The main problem with the recording is that, sonically speaking, it sounds rather flat - rather one-dimensional. I found it somewhat tinny on the top end of the sound spectrum and a bit muddy on the bottom end. With a larger ensemble it might not have been quite so noticeable, but with a trio of this type there’s a lot of space around the music, and any inadequacies in the recording quality tend to really stand out. I also felt that the optimum mix between the instruments was never achieved, as often times the bass (and sometimes even the guitar) is a little too low in the mix for my taste. These are subtle issues, but ones that created a distraction that ultimately reduced my enjoyment of the listening experience.
Ash has definitely derived his ‘strumming octaves’ style from listening to Wes Montgomery, and as a Montgomery fan I really dug that aspect of his playing. There were a few passages during which he didn’t seem completely relaxed in his playing, and it resulted in a feeling that he was not completely ‘locked in’ with the bass and drums. Montgomery often played just a little bit ahead of the beat, which had a way of bringing extra energy to the tune. Ash’s playing incorporates some of that rhythmic displacement, but during those times when he was slightly out of sync with the rhythm section it made him sound just a tiny bit hesitant and unsure.
Having said all that, if you can listen past the slight imperfections, you will hear a guitarist playing some interesting (and often quite advanced) ideas. His solos seem very explorative at times, as though he hasn’t quite committed to which path he wants to take. He can be moving in one direction and then suddenly stop on a dime and do something entirely different, but he has a way of wrapping it all up in the end so that it all makes sense. He is also quite the writer, having contributed eight of the albums eleven tunes. His songs are of the bebop and hard bop variety with memorable melodies and fairly common bop changes (maybe a little too common, as I have to take exception to his decision to take composer credit for the tune “All In All”, a very thinly veiled “All The Things You Are”.)
As for the rest of the band, I can’t say enough great things about Burno and Taylor’s contributions. They are simply rock solid, consummate jazz musicians of the highest caliber. What they bring to the table on this recording is incalculable.
Though this album fell a bit short of my expectations, all in all it’s an excellent effort. And to be fair, I should also mention that it was actually recorded in December of 2001 and I’m sure Ash’s playing has matured quite a bit in the ensuing 3 years. I can’t wait to hear what his next recording sounds like.
from Bagatellen.Com:
William Ash - The Phoenix
Review by Nate
“The fox knows many things; the hedgehog knows one big thing.” Nowadays, jazz guitarists tend to be stylistically eclectic foxes, but William Ash is a hedgehog: not a copycat by any means, but an unapologetic Wes Montgomery acolyte nonetheless. He’s already released a few discs on Japanese labels, but this new trio album (with bassist Dwayne Burno and drummer Mark Taylor) is his first for an American label. The pleasure of listening to The Phoenix the pleasure of hearing something simple done right. It’s all about sound, pace, and mood: the elemental guitar/bass/drums set-up; the dark-chocolate live-in-the-studio recording; the originals crafted around terse call-and-response patterns and no-tricks chord changes; the stripped-down but faithfully rendered standards (including a fat-free “Sidewinder”). His playing is direct, undramatic and in-the-moment: there are no climaxes, beyond the inevitable development from plainspoken single-note lines to choppier passages of octaves and chords. It’s as “pure” an album as any Cool School document: not a disc to go to if you’re looking for heart-on-sleeve playing, but a terrific album if you’re looking for something as simple and as pleasurable as a glass of ice water.
William Ash - The Phoenix
Review by Joe Milliken
New York-born jazz guitarist William Ash releases his debut CD as a leader with The Phoenix, on the Small Records jazz label. A child prodigy, Ash was a well known player in the New York City, Village Vanguard jazz scene as a young teenager.
His influences include Wes Montgomery, Barry Harris, John Patton, and the experience of playing with various hard boppin' and organ trio-driven outfits. These themes certainly shines through on this session, recorded at the Smalls Studio with Dwayne Burno on bass and Mark Taylor on drums, who are both superb musicians in their own right.
The Phoenix features eleven mostly original tracks, with a couple standards also included. The trio combines deep grooves, hard boppin' melodies, and funky solos throughout, with Burno and Taylor often finding that cohesive pocket to sit in, with tracks such as "Moon Shine", "It", (both Ash originals) and Lee Morgan's "Sidewinder" standing out in particular.
This CD is full of highlights and great moments. From the deep, grooving guitar solos of "Bill's Groove" and "Crystal Bird", to the hard boppin' of Charlie Parker's "Constellation" and the Ash original "Parker's Rhythm", to the cool swinging of "Celery" and the aforementioned "It", The Phoenix hits the mark on many fronts, successfully combining past influences with contemporary flair.
