CD Reviews: The Nu Band - In Memory of Mark Whitecage & Renual

The Nu Band

In Memory of Mark Whitecage - The Nu Band Live At the BopShop

The Nu Band

Renual

(Not Two) www.nottwo.com

Thinking back on the Nu Band's return to Pittsburgh last year, one of my favorite phrases comes to mind: joie de vivre. In referring back to the post that I wrote following that show, I saw that I used that old stand-by to describe their set, so I'm not imagining the level of enthusiasm that was on display that night. One can't help but admire a group of musicians in their 50s and 60s still traveling the US by van and putting everything into the music, regardless of the turnout. (You can tell me how great a pop star is for the big show they can put on  - and I won't disagree with you - but the people who really deserve kudos are the ones that do it on a small scale repeatedly and seem grateful just to have the opportunity.) 

But this isn't a place for soapboxes. This is a place to talk about two recent discs by the Nu Band that capture their music and celebrate their legacy. In Memory of Mark Whitecage salutes the late alto saxophonist who played with the band until his passing in 2021. The seven tracks come from a 2018 set at Rochester's BopShop, and include Whitecage, bassist Joe Fonda, drummer Lou Grassi and trumpeter Thomas Heberer (who replaced original trumpeter Roy Campbell, Jr. after he passed in 2014). 

The album celebrates Whitecage's distinct voice, beginning with "Prayer For the Water Protectors," a meditative piece on which he plays Diné flute, a Native American wooden flute. Then he switches gears in "Five O'Clock Follies" with a very Ayler-esque line of heavy vibrato before he and Heberer take off on a rapid melody. Like much of their music, it has moments of pure freedom; "Christophe and Ornette" even has a brief passage where the players wail vocally. 

But even when things get loose, the Band can easily snap back into a steady boppish pulse. This often comes from bassist Fonda, whose crisp tone often acts as the connective tissue between free and foundational. On that topic of connections in the music, "Dark Dawn in Aurora" (written by Grassi) has one telling moment during Heberer's solo. Playing a quarter-tone trumpet, he bends one phrase in a manner that sounds damn close to the attack Louis Armstrong often used when he twisted a similar idea. It might only be a fleeting moment, but it makes you wonder what might have happened if Pops  sat in with someone like Ornette Coleman. The track, and the album, conclude with another unhinged solo from Whitecage, sending him out in glory, assuring that he will always be remembered.

The Nu Band recorded Renual exactly one week after their 2022 Pittsburgh set, fresh off their tour and it shows in their performance. With guitarist Kenny Wessel assuming the second "horn" spot following Whitecage's death, the music has a different dimension, adding electricity and effects to the sound. If the original lineup could be seen as part of a lineage that goes back to Ornette Coleman's original quartet, it's important to remember that Wessel adds to that, having been a member of the saxophonist's Prime Time band during the '90s.

In addition to presenting a well-oiled machine, Renual continues to show the strength of all four as composers, with each musician contributing two pieces. Fonda's "Brown Bagging It" straddles steady vamps and open spaces ,with Heberer going from grit to wails throughout. Grassi's "The Unnecessary Correction" finds him thundering all over his kit as his comrades move together on the theme, Fonda digging into some feral bowing. 

The 12-minute "Snowclone" is a real tour de force. It opens with an extended testimony from Fonda, in a tone that feels bright and completely engaging. From there it goes through a growling Heberer section to a free-flowing showcase for Wessel. Grassi again plays all over his kit without ever sounding too heavy. Both of Wessel's contributions, "Notewise" and "Numerants" have angular, stop-start themes that play up the band's hard swinging qualities.

Even though Renual came from a studio session, it retains the same kind of electricity that could be felt on the BopShop gig. Both albums present solid, varied sets of music.