Brian Citro: Keep Moving (Home)
Calligram Records

The urge to draw parallels between Brian Citro's professional gig as a human rights lawyer and his vocation as a Chicago-based jazz guitarist are strong, especially when he brings many of the same tendencies to his music-making as he presumably does his legal work: rigour and scrupulousness come to mind as one attends to compositions methodically worked out and logically structured. While some lawyers might be prone to longwindedness, Citro's the opposite: his tracks are as long as they need to be and no longer, and while solos are present, they're generally concise. If anything, the fourteen tracks (one a bonus) on Keep Moving (Home) accentuate formal composition and ensemble playing over individual expression when he, Nick Mazzarella (alto saxophone), Matt Ulery (basses), and Quin Kirchner (drums) lean into a track's smooth groove like some seasoned R&B unit.

Citro's no dabbler: he's played and written music for three decades, studied with Fareed Haque, and played in a variety of bands. And the experiences he's had are interesting ones, too: in place of the usual stints with groups in different parts of the USA, Citro's (according to the press release) spent time “performing Sufi music with Rajasthani musicians in New Delhi, Highlife music with Ghanaians in Accra, and his own music with a trio of Indian jazz musicians.” Yet no matter where he found himself, he longed to return home to Chicago. Such experiences also influenced his approach to the guitar and group playing, both of which reflect an emphasis on groove and flow. Stated otherwise, as a player Citro's style and sensibility has more in common with Steve Cropper's than Steve Vai's.

That the players share histories clearly enhances their music-making. Citro earlier played with Kirchner and Mazzarella in separate outfits, and as listeners familiar with the Chicago scene know, Kirchner and Ulery have brought their tag-team artistry to many a club setting and recording session. These players lock in fluidly and execute Citro's charts with authority and ease. The guitarist shares the front line generously with Mazzarella, who when not elevating the music with his alto adds texture with Wurlitzer. Influences are many and varied—Monk, Metheny, Wonder, and Rundgren four of many cited—but Citro's music rarely sounds like anyone's but his own.

Setting the tone, “Stay Where You Feel” lays down a muscular pulse, Mazzarella voicing the sultry theme and the others waxing dreamily alongside. Indicative of his bent as leader, Citro takes his time before moving to the forefront, yet when he does his clean, soulful attack commands attention. With Wurlitzer amping up the vibe, the performance gives the impression of players enjoying each others' company and the sentiment infectiously spreading to the listener. While Citro tends to gravitate to mid- and even downtempo grooves, "The Take Down" serves up some serious heat when the four deliver a fat'n'funky take spiked by a wailing alto solo and an effects-laden reply from the leader. Consistent with the music's general tone and style, the grooves laid down by Kirchner and Ulery are more akin to rock than jazz. As the slinky “For You 470” and "Bloom in Gloom" show, Citro's not averse to an occasional ballad statement, their slow-jam paces perfectly conducive to the guitarist's textural attack. It takes but seconds for "…to Restraint” to establish a Steely Dan-like vibe, its slinky swing tailor-made for Donald Fagen to add his classic snarl, and with the tempo slowed, ”Risks & Opportunities" moves into sludgier territory, the music laden with grime and inflected with blues-funk touches.

July 2026