Rik Wright: Even Odds

Surprisingly, the latest offering from Seattle based Jazz Guitarist Rik Wright is anything but a guitar offering. This is not to say that there is no guitar on it, in fact, there is a lot of enjoyably played guitar on this CD. So what the heck am I rambling about? Well allow me to explain.

On “Even Odds”, Rik Wright has managed to craft a CD that focuses on the richness of melody, composition, instrumentation and arranging rather than the oft-times egocentric acts of guitar production. Not that there is anything wrong with that because I love that stuff. But Wright’s CD is a pleasant change of pace and is obviously a musical statement that only Rik Wright can share.

And share he does as the first track, “Boogie For Buddha”, takes the listener through an eclectic mix of seven original compositions featuring the sounds of violin, baritone sax, alto sax, soprano sax, trumpet, bass (both electric and acoustic), drums and…bassoon? (I swear I can hear a bassoon in there somewhere especially on the tune “Forget Nothing”). Oh yeah, and I almost forgot…guitar.

All joking aside, Wright does play some great guitar in a slightly uncommon and reflective way that reminds me of some Windham Hill artists, most notably the musical stylings, and not necessarily the instrumentation, of George Winston, Will Ackerman and Shadow Fax.

This sentiment is reflected in the tune “Hatha”, with its atmospheric spaciousness as electric fretless bass and baritone sax set a warm and inviting mood for Wright, who joins in playing a genial sounding Bossa rhythm against the melody line stated by James DeJoie on baritone sax. DeJoie also gets to play some great melodic content over Wright’s swinging accompaniment. Actually this is one of the few tunes where Wright plays some guitaristic glissando things and some surprisingly quick runs to boot. Definitely an attention grabber. And for a fun tune that seems to incorporate nearly all the instruments on this date, check out “Humming Bird” and its nod to Danny Elfman…at least to me anyway. Bassist James Whiton gets to shine a bit on this tune as does violinist Alicia Allen as she begins, then shares, the introductory motif with Wright. This tune is also a nice showcase for drummer Simon Grant as he just kicks it up a notch. And for something a tad different check out “Incidental Blue”, a free blowing tune that has a simultaneous dialogue between Wright, saxophonist DeJoie and trumpeter Tony Grasso. A fun time had by all I’m sure.

What I really like about this CD and what I like about Rik Wright is that he favors elements to suit the song and not his instrument. There are a bunch of tunes where other instruments state the melody or where the dominant instrument throughout the tune is not guitar. “Sunrise Pixels”, “Forget Nothing”, “Humming Bird”, and the title track “EvenOdds” with Wright's beautiful chordal intro, are just some of the tunes that cater to this compositional/arranging approach. The only other guitarist who I can think of at the moment who may be in the same ball-park as Rik Wright is Bill Frissell who also shares an affinity for non-guitaristic guitar albums.

Hopefully I have peaked your interest in finding out more about Rik Wright and “Even Odds”. It is a very interesting and musical album and as mentioned, a nice change of pace from the rest of the crowd. I truly feel that it deserves to be checked out and enjoyed.

Go to www.rikwright.com to purchase Evens Odds or to see what else Rik Wright has to offer.

Lyle Robinson