Puzzles

There was a time when it was somewhat controversial in jazz circles for a group to have horn players but no type of keyboard instrument. When Sonny Rollins and Ornette Coleman led pianoless groups in the late '50s and early '60s, some jazz enthusiasts wondered why they purposely did without either a pianist or an organist. But in fact, those pianoless units that Rollins and Coleman led during their youth went down in history as great groups, and the pianoless option has worked well for many jazz improvisers since then. It clearly works well for Alexis Cuadrado on Puzzles, a post-bop oriented date that was recorded in Brooklyn, NY in 2007 and finds the Barcelona-born bassist performing original material exclusively. Cuadrado employs organist Pete Rende on the good-natured "B&W Pop," but none of the other selections include any type of keyboard instrument — and most of the time, he leads a cohesive quartet that also includes Loren Stillman on tenor sax, Brad Shepik on electric guitar, and Mark Ferber on drums. That quartet becomes a quintet when trombonist Alan Ferber is added on three tracks: the dusky "Quintessential," the impressionistic "Canon," and the catchy "East 10th Shuffle," which brings some blues-rock appeal to what is largely a straight-ahead jazz disc. But most of the performances are quartet performances, and the use of a pianoless, organless, sax-friendly quartet serves Cuadrado well on the perky "Bright Light," the angular "Abstract Rhythm," and the pensive "Levitation" as well as the mysterious "Tango" (which is actually more Brazilian-flavored than tango-flavored — the tune definitely wasn't written with tango purists in mind). Puzzles is a solid demonstration of what Cuadrado has to offer as a bassist, arranger, composer, and group leader.