Seamus Blake- tenor saxophone Steve Wilson - alto/soprano saxes Bill Carrothers - piano Larry Grenadier - bass Bill Stewart - drums Blue Note Records #53210 Release date: March 11, 1997
These Are They / Mynah / Happy Chickens / Lyra / Rhythm 'n' Ning / Dwell On This / Calm / Fano / Little Melonae

What people are saying about "Telepathy"...

If someone were to play "Calm," and mention that it was written by a drummer, the typical response might be, "Huh?" A fairly serene number that could serve as the soundtrack to anyone watching a lazy river flow, the lovely "Calm" never picks up steam, composer Bill Stewart never picks up sticks; in fact, his drums play a back seat to what amounts to a feature for bassist Larry Grenadier.

The strenghts of "Calm" stem largely from its core, a place where musicians meeet inside the melody and arrangement, sharing solos, supporting and listening to each other. The same can be said for every other song on Telepathy aside from Jackie McLean's "Little Melonae," the four minute closer played at a medium-tempo, essentially a fully composed duet between Stewart and pianist Bill Carrothers. Indeed, the least interesting elements to Telepathy (when compared to what else is going on here) are the head and theme statements. No slight against Stewart, who wrote seven of the nine tunes, it's just that everything else outshines them. In fact, the Jackie McLean and (especially) Monk songs seem like your typical obligatory standards add-ons.

Returning from Snide Remarks (Blue Note), Stewart's very fine debut, are Grenadier and Carrothers. The front line of alto and tenor replaces Snide Remarks' trumpet and tenor. Nothing seems out of place; everyone plays his part with great ears and empathy. Stewart's arrangements require nothing less. Take the medium-slow opener, "These Are They." A lean head leads into a brief, deft alto solo by Steve Wilson, who is joined by Seamus Blake on tenor for some limited counterpoint before Carrothers takes the music in another direction entirely, dropping tempo at one point, recalling early '60s Paul Bley the next. The spooky four chords that serve as a skeleton to "These Are They" are played by Carrothers more as a web than as a way to reel anyone in, enhancing the piano's position as more than "just" a rhythm section instrument. Listen to how Blake's tempered burn serves as the meat to "Mynah," a medium-tempo tune in the spirit of Wayne Shorter.

Telepathy moves from minor to major chords whith the bluesy "Happy Chickens," a bouncy swinger reminiscent of occasional boss John Scofield, and featuring Stewart's tasteful drumming against Grenadier's funky ostinatos and some more nice work from Wilson, this time on soprano. And so it goes.

Like Snide Remarks, there are moments on Telepathy that bring to mind Miles Davis' music from the middle '60's, when forms became playthings in the hands of great musicians, solos outshined the melodies and a strong piano worked hand in hand with a strong drummer, giving the music its backbone. Carrothers and Stewart are the focus here, and for good reason: They enhance everyone else's music even as they shine themselves. That a drummer wrote practically the whole damn thing makes it even better.
- John Ephland, Downbeat Magazine, May '97 -

Drummer Bill Stewart's first outing for Blue Note, Snide Remarks, established his creds for building a sound around his very personal rhythmic conception: a bit off-center, given to melodies that springboard off an off-beat accent in delightful directions. He mines that vein further in the nine pieces here. His rhythm-mates, Larry Grenadier on bass and Bill Carrothers on piano, hold over, matching up this time with the two-sax front line of Steve Wilson (alto and soprano) and Seamus Blake (tenor). Stewart's seven compositions presented here run the gamut from M-base-tinged funk ("These Are They") to a thoughtful spacious etude ("Calm"). He tends toward the darker shades of the harmonic palette, and reveals both in swing and in contrasts - characteristics of the other two pieces, Monk's "Rhythm-a-Ning" and Jackie McLean's "Little Melonae." There is a sense throughout these performances of an extended five-way conversation, to which we are privileged to listen to.
- Bill Bennett, JazzTimes, June '97 -

Drummer Bill Stewart has made a name for himself with John Scofield’s band on several excellent recordings including What We Do and Hand Jive. He has also made great contributions to sessions with Joe Lovano, Marty Ehrlich and Maceo Parker. If it sounds to you like he has great range as a drummer, you’re right. Stewart combines the polyrhythmic inventiveness of modern drumming with the taste and groove of funk. He creates fire and drive without volume, always supporting and creating, but never overpowering.

Telepathy is his second date as a leader and it offers further evidence of his talents as both instrumentalist and composer. Stewart’s compositions range from aggressive to introspective and he has chosen a superb roster of musicians to assist him in his musical expression. Saxophonists Steve Wilson (alto and soprano) and Seamus Blake (tenor) are also coming into their own as great improvisers and their ideas and interplay are constantly engaging. Pianist Bill Carrothers is less well-known but is featured prominently and his imaginative harmonic sense invites close listening and the hope that he will appear more often on disc. Larry Grenadier’s bass work is superb. On one of your listens to this disc, focus on his bassistic creations. Great stuff!

Of the nine tunes on this disc only two are from the jazz canon. Jackie McLean’s "Little Melonae" and Monk’s "Rhythm-A-Ning" are given fresh treatments with Blake blazing through the Monk accompanied only by Stewart and Carrothers, while only the rhythm section is spotlighted on McLean’s great tune. The remaining tunes were penned by the leader. Stewart’s compositions range from angular and aggressive to dark and moody. Try to keep from smiling as Blake squawks and struts on "Happy Chickens." Blake and Wilson get into a wildly raucous mood on "Fano," exchanging ideas and honks, followed by some intensely creative statements from Grenadier and Stewart. "Calm" is a beautiful ballad feature for Carrothers, with the leader painting soft colors with brushes. Stewart proves to be as imaginative in his writing as in his drumming.

This is a rewarding disc, straight from the jazz tradition but consistently original and forward-looking.

Highly recommended.
- Rick Bruner, "All About Jazz" -

Once a precocious sideman to John Scofield and Joe Lovano, this 30-year-old Iowa-born New Yorker is one of the best young drummers in jazz. Stewart plays with a rolling, limber suppleness; no matter how complex his rhythms get, they stay buoyant. Few drummers compose, but Stewart writes almost every piece he records: squiggly little melodies, offhand but catchy.

On Telepathy the music is knotty, muscular and unpredictable. "Happy Chickens" is wryly down-home; honking over Stewart's intricate but danceable beat, saxophonists Steve Wilson and Seamus Blake sound like avant-funk renegades from James Brown. On Thelonious Monk's "Rhythm-a-ning" and Jackie McLean's "Little Melonae," Stewart & Co. gleefully subvert the classics, turning them into brand-new adventures.

Stewart's music makes demands but repays listeners amply, letting them share the exhilaration of world-class improvisers who pull happy surprises from thin air. When it works, this is forward-looking '90s jazz at its best: five skillful players who treat structure as a launching pad, not a prison; who stay in sync through sheer mutual receptivity--that's right, telepathy. (Blue Note)
- Tony Scherman -

No young drummer in jazz has captured the spirit of the late Tony Williams with more imagination than Bill Stewart, whose hummingbird pulse, loose timekeeping and lightning reflexes pay homage to Williams' early work. Here, Stewart has assembled a band of in-the-moment improvisers -- saxophonists Steve Wilson and Seamus Blake, pianist Bill Carrothers and bassist Larry Grenadier -- and turned them loose on the kind of open, floating material that soars on the wing of smart interaction or crashes into a wall of meandering harmony and pretension. Mostly we get the former. And if Stewart's originals are melodically limited and occasionally derivative -- "Mynah" could be a lost track from Miles Davis' "Sorcerer" -- several feature infectious bass lines and rhythmic hooks.
- Mark Stryker, Detroit Free Press -

One of the brightest young drummers around, Stewart is a former member of guitarist John Scofield's band. He's reunited here with pianist Bill Carrothers and bassist Larry Grenadier from 1995's Snide Remarks, while the front line, alto/soprano saxist Steve Wilson and tenorist Seamus Blake, is new. The avant-mainstream spirit of the music here recalls some of the hipper recordings Blue Note released back in the '60s by the likes of Andrew Hill and Tony Williams, not to mention contemporary recordings by Williams' employer for much of the '60s, Miles Davis. True to its title, Telepathy seems to cohere more through deft mental interaction amongst the band members than through predetermined structures (hear the shape-shifting version of Monk's "Rhythm-a-ning"). The net effect is more cerebral than soulful, but it's compelling nonetheless.
- Tim Powis, SpinCycle-

By listening to drummer Bill Stewart's 1997 Blue Note release "Telepathy", we get another hint of what the trio A Band in All Hope will sound like when it visits Lincoln for a performance at Westbrook Recital Hall on April 1. It is the sound of excitement, the sound of adventurous minds, the sound of ensemble playing that is frequently on the edge, but always firmly rooted in solid writing, arranging and musicianship. Two-thirds of the trio are here - Stewart and pianist Bill Carrothers, who also held down the keyboard chair on the drummer's Blue Note debut, "Snide Remarks." Unlike this group, A Band in All Hope features just one saxophone -- played by Anton Denner -- and no bass. Steve Wilson and Seamus Blake share saxophone duties here, creating an intense, almost telepathic, dialogue on tunes like "These Are They" and the meditative "Lyra." Bassist Larry Grenadier lends his imaginative bass figures and beatftiful, woody tone. Stewart and Carrothers work extraordinarily well together. Check out their close-order drills on Monk's "Rhythm-a-Ning" and Jackie McLean's "Little Melonae," a Monkish exploration of rhythmic and harmonic possibilites.
- Tom Ineck, Berman Music Foundation -

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