Review of Scott Marshall’s “The Solitude Suite”
Saxophonist Scott Marshall has gigged with everyone from The Rascals to Marie Osmond. He currently teaches at the Oscar Peterson School of Music at Toronto’s Royal Conservatory. His latest self-released album is The Solitude Suite, which, like his previous six albums, is all-original compositions.
The CD was inspired by the “solitudes created by smartphones, social media algorithms, and divisive political discourse.” To reflect the loss of “middle ground” in society, Marshall leaves out any chordal instruments in his acoustic quartet.
Without piano or guitar, the sound is detached and floating. It compares to Ornette Coleman’s first pianoless quartet, but this isn’t free jazz. Marshall’s compositions stick to the changes, the arrangements are head-solo-head, and there’s no interplay among the sax and trumpet when they improvise. This makes you sometimes hear a piano or guitar in your imagination.
The “middle ground” role shifts not so much to Mike Downes’ walking bass, but to Terry Clarke’s drums. Rather than inversions and modulations, you get loud and soft, fast and slow, and different touches on the percussion as it responds to the soloists and steers them.
Kevin Turcotte’s trumpet is warm, stays in the middle register, and has a slightly blurry edge to it like Don Cherry’s. Marshall’s tenor is airy and fluid, in the Lester Young/Stan Getz tradition. They make an effective combination, especially when they play in straightforward harmonies.
“Conversations” is a good example of Marshall’s composing and playing talents. There’s tension-and-release as the melody’s sour harmonies unfold. The soprano solo makes effective use of the unusual intervals heard in the melody, taking them in new directions.
Turcotte has his own style. He especially caught my attention on the meditative “Reflection.” In a dissonant melody that recalls Yusef Lateef’s “Syn-Anthesia,” Turcotte plays long tones very quietly, without a mute, while still sounding expressively human. It’s a reminder that playing quietly is an advanced technical skill for trumpeters, too.
Marshall succeeds here with another document dedicated to his own highly personal musical vision.
(Originally published on the Arts Fuse, May 1, 2024.)
