Album Review: Chill Morn He Climb Jenny by John McNeil and Bill McHenry

Tenor saxophonist Bill McHenry and trumpeter John McNeil turn to grainy and humorous bits of Americana for their live album Chill Morn He Climb Jenny, the title of which, by the way, is an anagram of the two leaders’ names combined. The album, featuring drummer Jochen Rueckert and bassist Joe Martin, is a follow-up to the same quartet’s 2008 recording Rediscovery. McHenry and McNeil dust off the old American songbook, and search for tunes that have somehow been strained out of jazz.

Initially looking at the track list, each title easily transmuted into a simple question, and one that called the album’s potential for hipness into doubt: “Moonlight in Vermont?” “Batter Up?” “Aren’t You Glad You’re You?” The questions really ask, “how do these songs fit into the slick, stoic, and super-technical modern jazz milieu?” Well, they don’t, but that’s kind of the point. The result is simple and enjoyable, with a tinge of nostalgia that’s quickly mitigated by the buoyancy and freshness of the performances.

“Moonlight in Vermont” opens with ominous cymbal rolls, a haunting perfect fifth between the bass and saxophone, and a dark trumpet melody influenced by the scales of Middle Eastern music. The quartet then goes into what sounds like a sweet version of the song, with McNeil playing the distinctive melody. Soon, the horns engage in an angular contrafact, and the darkness momentarily settles in. The sweetness returns when McHenry plays the bridge. He also takes the first solo, his tone large and unstable, like a teenager going through a growth spurt, but glorious in it’s effulgence and unguardedness.

The group shows that it’s still possible to have fun within the confines of the old standard. They uncover a range of emotions without transforming the song. There’s no need for the ubiquitous odd time signatures and exaggerated gravity.

The following track, “Batter Up,” was written by Russ Freeman, who is best known for playing piano with Chet Baker and Art Pepper. The song, which does the rare job of combining the disparate influences of jazz and baseball, is funny in its programmatic ambitions. How many jazz songs try to conjure images of sports? The song is fast enough to evoke a degree of intensity, but the mood remains light. When McNeil and McHenry solo, this dual nature is present, and it calls to mind the baseball of yore, when mustachioed players with baggy pants struck out like Casey at the Bat.

“Aren’t You Glad You’re You,” by Jimmy Burke and Jonny Van Heusen, is from the 1945 film The Bells of St. Mary’s, starring Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman. It is meant to be corny, and the band does it justice with admirable commitment. The jubilant solos are arresting in their goofiness! It makes you wonder why more jazz doesn’t take corniness and fun as its foundation. It also makes you wonder what other great old songs have yet to be mined.

Release Date:

September 21st, 2010 on Sunny Side Records

Personnel:

• John McNeil – Trumpet
• Bill McHenry - Tenor Saxophone
• Joe Martin – Bass
• Jochen Rueckert - Drums

Track List:

1. Moonlight in Vermont
2. Batter Up
3. Aren’t You Glad You’re You
4. Maid In Mexico
5. Bea’s Flat
6. Three and One
7. Carioca
8. Wells Fargo
9. No Blues (Pfrancing)