Jorge Roeder: El Suelo Mio
T-Town Records

This exceptional debut album of solo double-bass artistry casts Jorge Roeder in a most flattering light. The playing of the Lima, Peru-born and United States-based Roeder is marked by extraordinary musicality and expressiveness, and one comes away from the recording marveling at his technical proficiency. His command of rhythm, dynamics, melody, and intonation are compelling, so much so that it would be hard to imagine another recording of solo bass playing bettering it. On the forty-eight-minute release, originals blend with Peruvian and Brazilian songs plus two standards, a dazzling take on the oft-covered “I'll Remember April” and an arco-driven rendering of Ornette's “Lonely Woman,” itself preceded by a heartfelt homage to one of Roeder's main inspirations, Charlie Haden, “Rambler.”

Roeder's diverse background serves him well on the release. He's partnered with guitarist Julian Lage, Argentinean vocalist Sofia Rei, and Israeli pianist Shai Maestro in their respective outfits and is also a member of trombonist Ryan Keberle's Catharsis; Gary Burton and John Zorn are others with whom the Grammy Award-winner (for the debut album by the Julian Lage Group) has worked. With such experience to draw upon, it's no surprise that El Suelo Mio often delves deeply into South American music.

Improvisation is abundant, but one of the most appealing things about El Suelo Mio is that Roeder grounds much of it in memorable song structures. A pianistic dimension also often informs his approach when a bass pattern is used as a foundation for melodic statements in the higher register (it can't be coincidental that Roeder fashioned the album's “Thing-Thing” as a tribute to his jazz pianist influences, Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, and Lennie Tristano). The songs are smartly timed too, with only one pushing past five minutes and the majority in the three-minute range—sufficient time for a piece to make a complete statement but not so long it overstays its welcome.

The title track, which best translates as ‘land of mine' but which Roeder also interprets as ‘ground of mine' to emphasize the role of the bass in music, borrows a melodic phrase from the song “Bello Dumiente” by Peruvian folkloric composer Maria Isabel ‘Chabuca' Granda before moving into the bassist's own musical territory. One is instantly captivated by the bluesy wail of the material, and articulation and expression are at their highest level as phrases are voiced with unerring dexterity. As riveting is “Chabuca Limeña,” a Granda tribute by Spanish composer Manuel Alejandro, the playing more animated and Roeder rendering lines with pinpoint fluidity. The performances aren't lacking for swing either, as illustrated by the insistently propulsive “Solo Juntos” and the aptly titled “Bounce,” which sequences a funky lower figure and wiry upper-register replies into call-and-response formation.

While Roeder didn't fashion El Suelo Mio as an album-length exercise in virtuosic display, his adroit technical command nevertheless emerges in the lightning-fast runs that introduce “El Plebeyo” by Peruvian composer Felipe Pinglo Alva. Elsewhere, things turn wistful during the reverie “Silencio de um Minuto” by Brazilian composer Noel Rosa, and a two-part dedication to Lage, “Patrona” and “Santa Rosita,” also appears. With Roeder's playing marked by fluency and taste throughout, El Suelo Mio makes for an immensely rewarding set that invites repeat visits.

August 2020