Rick Peckham Trio, Left End - 1h 2m 22s

Tracks & Durations

1. Left End	4:22
2. 353-1001	4:21
3. Mr. Medium	4:52
4. Shakey	3:23
5. Free 2	1:34
6. Gibbions	5:34
7. Soporific	4:58
8. You Know What That Means	6:41
9. Hammer Damage	2:48
10. Hawthorn	7:06
11. Real Time	7:13
12. Free 1	3:45
13. Evidence	5:36

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Review

Classic Rock Meets Free Jazz on guitarist Rick Peckham's debut, "Left End."

On Left End, his debut as a leader, Boston-based guitarist/composer Rick Peckham seamlessly marries rock tones and twisted intent with sophisticated jazz harmonies and freewheeling improvisational daring. Backed by the remarkable rhythm tandem of drummer Jim Black and bassist Tony Scherr, Peckham distinguishes himself as a gutsy, accomplished player whose mind is wide open to sonic possibilities.

"When I first started playing jazz...I don't know how I got the idea...but it really seemed like part of playing jazz was that you had to hate rock," says Peckham. "And so I sort of bought into that for a while. I got a new guitar and put strings on it that were too heavy to bend and just tried to get into Wes Montgomery and Grant Green, which I did. And I still love those guys, especially Grant Green. But when it finally came time for me to make a record, I didn't want to jump into something that would be just another jazz record, I wanted to get into the difficult work of integrating Paul Kossoff (guitarist in Free) and all the great classic rock guys that I always loved."

Echoes of rock guitarists of the '70s and '80s are heard all through the album. "Left End" takes its name and sound from a Cleveland Led Zeppelin-influenced band Peckham liked as a teenager. "Mr. Medium" is "my take on `Mr. Big' by Paul Kossoff,' Peckham says. "Shakey" is an homage to Neil Young. "I just love those huge sounds that he gets on his solo records," Peckham says, "that Crazy Horse sound." "Gibbons" is named for ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons.

But the music on Left End refuses to fall into any one neat category. "Free 1" and "Free 2" are completely improvised pieces that explore textures and tone colors more commonly heard in jazz. The odd meter of "353-1001" and the African-flavored beat of "Real Time" add rhythmic variety to the rock rhythms heard elsewhere on the album. The quirky, medium tempo "Hawthorn" previously appeared on the long out-to-print debut CD by new jazz quintet Human Feel, which also featured drummer Black. The trio even takes on a certified jazz classic, Thelonious Monk's "Evidence."

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