John Patitucci
One More Angel,  Concord Jazz CD CCD-4753-2, 1997

 Heartfelt miss

Patitucci is a veteran of Chick Corea’s bands and a much sought-after session bassist. And the inspiration behind this album–a family tragedy–is genuinely moving. But on  One More Angel, all that feeling has been distilled into reverie and reflection, resulting in a New Age jazz, or a kind of Third Stream for the ’90s that jusssssssssssssssssss...gzzbtsk. Huh? What! Oh, sorry. I must have gotten carried away by the music.– Pete Kelly

 Glenn Brooks says... Pete nailed it: in spite of some fine playing, the modal structure is too predictable–"okay, here we go, run this mode for 4 bars, now, everybody ready...."

And in case you miss the reference, Third Stream was a branch of jazz that sought to combine classical–i.e., structured–elements with jazz improvisation. In spite of some notable successes (to my mind, at least) it never acheived much momentum, and today has a reputation as a musical dead end. Hence, Pete’s snide remark. Nevertheless, the influence of Third Stream, if not the term, is apparent in such excellent and widely differing recent recordings as Wynton Marsalis’  In This House, on This Morning, the Meridian Arts Ensemble’s spin on Frank Zappa,  Smart Went Crazy, and Jean-Yves Thibaudet’s  Conversations with Bill Evans.