CD Review: Devin Gray/ Ralph Alessi/ Angelica Sanchez - Melt All The Guns

Devin Gray/ Ralph Alessi/ Angelica Sanchez
Melt All The Guns

(Rataplan) devingraymusic.bandcamp.com/album/melt-all-the-guns

Social commentary has been a part of jazz music since the beginning. Granted, it can offer an escape from the bleakness of the world around us, but from "Black and Blue" to bebop to We Insist: Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite to Mike Reed's Flesh and Bone, the music has also served as a call to arms, a reminder of what needs to be done to make the world a better place.

Drummer Devin Gray wrote the five tracks on Melt All the Guns in late 2019, following several incidents of gun violence. He could very easily have written it in the last month or two, since the issue continues. The album was officially issued on June 7, the Seventh National Gun Awareness Day. 

Potent though his intentions might be, Gray does not produce a set of songs that attempt to translate the issue of gun violence directly into chaotic, free music. The EP (the entire set lasts just 20 minutes) concludes with "Protect Our Environment," which might be the one blatant effort to deliver a musical message, and it comes across like a prayer of hope for the future. 

Prior to that Gray, trumpeter Ralph Alessi and pianist Angelica Sanchez work together to create melodies that often have all three playing in unison, even the drums. The music, for the most part, doesn't seem to rely on standard solos. It leans on trio interaction where everyone might be improvising but the results feel like a three-way presentation. When Sanchez and Alessi play a theme, Gray often rolls freely but he never sounds thunderous. He focuses a lot of his sound on his snare and the dynamics he creates have a more deliberate impact, raising the intensity of a piece. Sanchez adds left hand chords that flesh out the harmonic structure. "Micro Waves" features the pianist digging into an extended riff that features open space as well as chords. Alessi can sound tough and direct (the kind of voice needed to address this subject, perhaps), adding some upper register yelps in the title track which, on further thought, might be part of the message. 

Regarding the number of tracks, one can come away from the set feeling like the group is just warming up as "Protect Our Environment" winds down. Nothing lasts longer than 4-1/2 minutes, which reveals an admirable sense of economy as it delivers a message. More music might have diluted the message of the release, though it surely would have produced equally strong tunes. This way, the message is clear,  tight and articulate.