Review of CD - Square Peg Round Hole - by Andrew Lienhard at JazzHouston

In March 2002, JazzHouston.com Editor Kelly Dean ended his otherwise enthusiastic review of Woody Witt’s debut CD with a slight criticism. “[I have] only one problem -- how's he gonna top this?” Okay, not a real criticism, but a concern nonetheless. Many artists have been known to produce wonderful debuts only to sink into mediocrity down the road.

Well, I’m here to report that such fears have proven unfounded. I just received an advance copy of Witt’s sophomore release entitled “Square Peg, Round Hole” and it’s a doozy. In fact, it may well be one of the year’s best jazz albums.

The big news is the line-up, for which Witt has enlisted a cadre of A-list players. The great trumpeter Randy Brecker shares front-line duties with the tenor saxophonist. Brecker, an artist who in his 30+ years of making albums has worked with Art Blakey, Horace Silver, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, Steely Dan, Frank Zappa and, of course, his brother Michael with the Brecker Brothers. Given this diversity, it’s easy to forget what a powerful and important jazz player he is. This album should reaffirm that quite clearly though. On every track, Brecker proves to be an insightful soloist with a soaring tone, marvelous phrasing and a strong sense of melody.

This rhythm section of Ari Hoenig (d), Johannes Weidenmueller (b), and David Kikoski (p) is perhaps the most interesting and explosive trio to come along in a long time. Their unwavering fire and restless creativity drives the band in a manner not unlike the classic trios used by Miles Davis. Kikoski, who plays with Roy Haynes and many others, is nothing short of dazzling. His mind just buzzes with ideas and he possesses limitless technical mastery to execute every last one of them. Hoenig and Weidenmueller, on loan from Kenny Werner’s trio, have a wonderful elastic quality in their playing. They breathe with the soloist, capturing and enhancing every nuance. It’s very much like hearing a modern day Tony Williams and Ron Carter.

Hiring great musicians is not, in and of itself, a formula for a great record. One has to rise to their level, speak their language and ultimately make good music. But that’s exactly what Woody Witt has done here. The mild-mannered Nebraska native with the hard-hitting tenor sound, wrangles these seasoned, upper-echelon New York musicians on a journey through his refreshing, often mesmerizing, compositions. It's an interesting twist, too, that the all tunes on this record are his own. Witt's compositions, some of them new, some from his college days, are an amalgam of styles from hard-bop to blues to excursions in freer music. No matter what the style though, he makes the melody his central component, as it should be.

No other tune highlights this sense of melody better than “Before the Rain”, written while still a student at UNT (where he served in the famed 1 O’Clock lab band). It also features an inspired two-minute introduction by Kikoski, which is truly stunning. “Childlike” with its playful motive (written for his daughter) sounds a like something from the Miles Davis/Wayne Shorter catalogue. After a series of impressive solos by Kikoski, Brecker and Witt, the tune ends abruptly after a quick restatement of the theme (a la Miles on “One Finger Snap”). “Taking Her Sweet Time”, a ballad written in a traditional 32-bar AABA form, has a beautiful melody built upon wide intervals. The tune continues with a thoroughly marvelous solo from Witt which mimics the melody with its many leaps into the upper register and firmly establishes his mastery of the ballad.

There are a few barn-burners in the set too. “Under the Wire”, a C-minor blues with a few twists, gives the band room to let loose. Leading off the solos, Witt quotes Monk's “Epistrophy” before heading into the stratosphere with images of the great Joe Henderson. Brecker follows this with a lyrical solo using the tune’s melody as an anchor. The closing solo by Kikoski simply reaffirms why he’s one of the most in demand pianists around.

“Out of the Box”, with its looser construction, harkens to the days of mid-60’s when jazz began dismantling established frameworks. Weidenmueller and Hoening drive this one though. Let me reiterate: these guys are the next great drum-bass pairing. Kikoski, once again, is spectacular.

This wouldn’t be a Texas jazz record without the blues. Witt tells his side of it on “Dirty Dogs”. You can hear his deep background in the lore of the Texas Tenor as he roars through chorus after chorus on this romping track. Locals will be pleased too. There are only a handful of players keeping this style alive and Woody’s definitely one of them.

So, I hope I’ve answered Kelly Dean’s question. And I suppose given how successful this record is I should close with the same query that Kelly posed last time. But, I don’t think it’s necessary at this point. The future is very bright for Woody Witt.