Just Noodlin'

DC area jazz is just barely on the map in general, best known for relations to the go-go years (the all-night music, not the boots). On Just Noodlin', you'll find longtime club player and teacher Paul Carr with his second album in some 15 years. The song choices are a fair mix of works from local composers and arrangers, plus a couple of classics. On the title track (something of a jam session-turned-composition), the band picks up in a relatively heavy groove and continues into a bluesy number with similar intensity but less tempo. "Krush Groove" has no real relation to the movie, but involves a short showcase of musical styles melded to a basic swing aesthetic with mixed results. The album opens up when Carr takes on a Dexter Gordon classic in "You've Changed" (a rare ballad on the album, but it suits Carr surprisingly well, given his usual energy), and kicks up some additional intensity with an old Hank Mobley number suited perfectly for Carr's Texas-style playing (as well as some heavy trumpet soloing from guest Terell Stafford). Bacharach's "Alfie" is given a samba flavor that doesn't quite add to or detract from the original, while another local work brings the band back to their proper groove state, and a Trane-inspired version of "But Not for Me" gives Carr an excellent chance to show off technique along with the Texas blow. The album finishes on a slower gospel number, almost anticlimactically. Still, the album shows off a fine set of abilities and a nice showcase for some lesser-known composers as well. Give it a listen or two.