These came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got ’em. Here’s what I said about them back then (with some minor editing):
In the same way that virtually all jazz trumpeters have been influenced at least a bit by Miles Davis and all sax players can’t help but have some Charlie Parker in their sound, nearly all jazz bassists owe a small debt to Charles Mingus.
What separates the innovators from the also-rans is whether they take that influence and run with it. Brad Jones and Mario Pavone are way ahead of the pack. After all, there aren’t many folks who can say they’ve worked with both Ornette Coleman and Sean Lennon — as Jones has in addition to his long tenure with The Jazz Passengers. On Uncivilized Poise, he steps into the driver’s seat, leading a smooth quartet and guest vocalists through 10 tracks of lite jazz with mellow arrangements offset by his fat, rich slabs of sound. Think Mingus gone uptown. Pavone, meanwhile, stays way downtown on Remembering Thomas, his tribute to late pal and reed player Thomas Chapin. On these edgy tracks, Pavone’s piano trio colours outside the lines of post-bop, hanging big, ringing piano chords above his thrumming, low-slung style and the drummer’s propulsive swing. Charles would approve. So will you.
