Search - Mark Elf :: Swingin'

Mark Elf has a rare knack for making radio-friendly music that's still jazz by any definition--flowing, smooth-lined music that balances his warm, singing guitar tone with real swing. Elf is a storyteller, an improviser in the tradition of Joe Pass and Wes Montgomery who plays with a conversational ease, whether the subject in hand is a standard or one of his own tuneful originals. His basic group here is a trio with Robert Hurst on bass and Winard Harper on drums, a rhythm section that swings with authority on "I Won't Dance" and delivers an effective Latin inflection on Elf's "Indubitably." It's also a group that can negotiate the turns of Coltrane's "Lazy Bird" with ease and collectively cook on "All of You." While Elf can spin rapid-fire bop lines, his playing is as noteworthy for its simplicity. On a ballad such as his own "Middle of the Night," he does a lot with a carefully placed note or a short phrase. Pianist Aaron Goldberg is another fluent player in the same mainstream idiom who adds a richer harmonic dimension and forceful solos to the guitarist's "Blowin' for the Cohens" and "HOV Lane." Elf takes the two concluding tunes unaccompanied, neatly balancing bass lines, chords, and lead work. It's technically daunting work, but the demands never detract from an overriding lyricism. --Stuart Broomer