Nick Maclean Quartet - Rites of Ascension (Browntasaurus NCC-1701K)

Historical article recovered from a Wayback capture dated 2018-02-24.

This twenty-something Toronto based pianist will be largely unknown to Australian audiences, but with albums like this along with his other project ‘Snaggle’ likened to Snarky Puppy, Maclean’s trajectory can only be upward. Raised in Ottawa, and inspired by Fats Waller and Benny Goodman records, he was later influenced heavily by Herbie Hancock’s music, and, it seems, his philosophy, which are major inspirations on this album. Personal expression and fun are the hallmarks of Nick Maclean’s music and both are in abundance here. The overly familiar ‘Cantaloupe Island’ opens the album but Maclean’s arrangement uses chromatic colours to put his stamp on the Hancock hit. Trumpeter Brownman Ali, with his crystalline tone, controlled vibrato and precise facility tips his hat to Hubbard while accelerating ‘Driftin’ into double time. ‘One Finger Snap’ then follows at a pace that requires two fingers snapping. Samples of Hancock voicing wisdom are used to colour some Maclean original’s which allow the album to ascend from a platform of the past into the music of tomorrow. The highlight is the contribution from Ali ‘Madness of Nero’ which seems to encompass all the stylistic elements of the album into one piece including samples from philosopher Christopher Hitchens. The pair open in unison over a Tyler Goertzen’s backbeat, while Maclean’s block chords are utilised heavily in solo adding to the madness. Ali’s fleeting inventions are constructed to perfection and build to climax before he again responds musically to Hitchen’s take on the madness of power. Then the funk sets up a second and final climax.

Peter Wockner