Mark Elf: Liftoff

Liftoff, the 12th CD from Jazz Guitarist Mark Elf as a leader, is a blazing session of ten tunes that feature Mark’s fervent bop playing alongside the heavy-duty rhythm section of David Hazeltine on Piano, Peter Washington on Bass and powerhouse Drummer Lewis Nash. Percussionist Daniel Sadownick guests on one track (“Chuy’s Challenge”).

Liftoff is by and large created around a theme, the classic John Coltrane tune “Countdown” from Tranes Giant Steps album. “Liftoff” and “Deception Blues”, two compositions by Mark were written around the “Countdown” changes, while the Frank Loesser tune “I’ve Never Been In Love Before” is a variation based on those same changes. Mark burns through these tunes with an ease that is both enviable and inspiring. His skill as a quick thinking and fleet-fingered guitarist is comparable to practically any guitarist out there and it’s no wonder that he has placed on top of the Jazz Radio Charts for a long time.

Apart from the aforementioned tunes, Mark also tears it up on “Chuy’s Challenge”, “How Low Can You Go”, “Left Hand Corner” and on two alternate takes of “Liftoff” and “Deception Blues”. His playing is strong and reminds me at times of early Tal Farlow and Wes Montgomery with a crisp tone that brings out each picked note in a well articulated fashion.

Mark can also play pretty, as is evident on “I’ve Never Been In Love Before”, with its beautiful chord melody intro ala Joe Pass before digging into a medium swing with some serious lines. He also gets to soften things up a bit on the Ranger/Robin composition “Thanks For The Memory”, which, for those younger players out there, was the great comedian Bob Hope’s theme song. Mark intro’s this tune with some gorgeous chords and single lines before warmly stating the melody. His solo is thoughtful and surprisingly delicate and would be definitely worth transcribing if no other reason than to see how great note choices bring out the changes clearly. A must listen tune!

Another must listen tune is “Deception Blues”, where Mark introduces his Baritone Guitar, which is basically a 6 string bass guitar*. It’s got a really cool sound that reminds me of the Ventures. Of course in Mark’s hands, it sounds nothing like the Ventures. He also plays the Baritone Guitar on “How Low Can You Go”. A straight-ahead twelve bar Blues tune that not only features a nice solo by Bassist Peter Washington, but also has Peter and Mark trading fours on their respective “bass” guitars, hence the title. Now if Mark would only do a Jazz version of Spinal Tap’s “Big Bottom” we’d be in business...:)

As mentioned earlier, there are two alternate takes on this CD, “Liftoff” and “Deception Blues”. The alternative take of “Deception Blues” has Mark just playing a regular six-string while “Liftoff” is played at a tempo marking of 275 rather than the title track’s 300. Definitely a chops workout on both takes and enough of a difference to not have both takes sounding redundant.

And speaking of chops, the accompanying players get to stretch out during various tunes with Pianist David Hazeltine getting almost as much solo time as Mark. David has some serious technique and a bop style that would make Barry Harris smile. These two definitely work well together as does the rest of the band. This is serious music and the rhythm section rises to the occasion, providing Mark with a solid foundation to play off of. He’s undeniably in good hands and as Mark states in the liner notes, “with a rhythm section of this caliber one can’t go wrong.” I totally agree!

I would, without a doubt, recommend Liftoff, or any Mark Elf album for that matter, to those who appreciate great music and dynamic Bop playing. As mentioned, this is some serious music and as Lou Donaldson likes to say, “Not recommended for Fusion or Confusion musicians.” Check Mark Elf out, you’ll be glad you did.

* I grabbed this description of the web at http://theband.hiof.no/articles/fender_bass_vi.html: A 6 string bass guitar is “...tuned a full octave lower than standard guitar tuning. This means that the low E string is the same pitch as the low E of a bass guitar. A Bass VI neck is in between an electric guitar and an electric bass guitar in length. These qualities make it truly a jack of all trades and master of none. When you play high up on the neck, it is the same pitch as the lower notes on a guitar, but the tone and timbre of the sound is quite different. The lightest string on a Bass VI is .025", and is wound stainless steel over a steel core, while the thinnest string on a guitar is .010" or so, and is plain steel wire. This makes the tone of the two very different.

Go to www.jenbayjazz.com/ to see what else Mark Elf has to offer.

Lyle Robinson