With You In My Mind

West coast keyboardist/composer Danny Green is heavily influenced by the California Brazil Camp workshops he has attended, taking cues from the musicians he played with and translating it to this set of his bright original compositions, with the carnival, rain forest, and sweaty humid days and nights of Rio in mind. The style of Chick Corea is never far from being at hand, and to his credit, there's very little copped or reimagined music identifiable from Hermeto Pascoal, Return to Forever, Victor Feldman, or other Latin jazz crossover fusion artists. Green, who plays acoustic piano, electric Fender Rhodes, and the melodica, somewhat acts upon a pan-South American style that borrows only slightly from disparate elements on both sides of the equator, dependent on his chops and ideas, which generally work well. Soprano saxophonist Tripp Sprague straddles the line between smooth and slick on select tracks, and Allan Phillips uses a variety of ethnic percussion, but it's mostly a trio session with bassist Justin Grinnell and drummer Dylan Savage that Green depends on for rhythmically centering his music in a basic way. Green at his best stretches out on his theme "Baiao Pra Voce," displaying solid musicianship, not showy but substantive in a manner similar to Corea. "Panic Nap" is for sure an interesting title, starting with a celestial star wars motif, switching to a heavy bassline, Green on the Fender Rhodes electric piano and melodica, with a snippet of "On Green Dolphin Street" tossed in. On the acoustic piano, Green has many moments of excellent invention and made up improvisational discourse, whether on the sensual tango flavored "Para Chano," the typical hard samba "Jellyfish," or an interpretation of the Danilo Perez composition "Suite for the Americas," loaded in percussion and 7/8 beats, a jam at first, displaying a good sense of confidence through his dancing block chord structures. The songs turn lighter and a bit commercial when Sprague's soprano saxophone is added during the reggae shaded "Doctor Pasta" where it sounds like Stan Getz meets Toots Thielemans meets Bob Marley. "The Last Minute" is also light, a bit more choppy, but sounding like a smooth jazz friendly tune. Green clearly is talented, and one to watch as his individualism develops and he collaborates with those who can help elevate his game. ~ Michael G. Nastos, Rovi