“Richmond has some of the best musicians in the world,” says bassist Michael Hawkins. “I know because I have been around the world.”
Over the years, Hawkins has performed at iconic venues with some of the biggest names in jazz, notably as the bassist in Cyrus Chestnut’s classic trio. In recent years, he has established himself in the local area as someone with the charm and patience to run a weekly jam session (Sunday nights at Reveler) and as the rhythmic/harmonic foundation for some of the areas’ best players. His band, The Brotherhood, supports his world-class claim with every live performance.
With his new album, “On Bass,” that interplay is captured for posterity.
The Brotherhood is a study in contrasts. Pianist Dr. Weldon Hill’s wide chordal architectures shot through with single note runs. Drummer Billy Williams Jr. is a master of canny, constrained explosiveness. James Saxsmo Gates cuts into the melody from every direction, polishing new facets with every attack. World-traveling jazz/classical trumpet virtuoso and VCU professor Rex Richardson shows up on a couple of tracks. And Hawkins is underneath it all, shaping and responding to the others improvisation with a big, woody sound. (The bassist does get an extended spotlight in a cover of Oscar Peterson’s “My Little Cello.”)
The straight-ahead playing of lyrical selections, in the sense that every piece is a classically-structured song rather than an abstract groove or postmodern musical construction, gives “On Bass” the immediate approachability of a classic Blue Note set. The mix of covers and originals is seamless. It starts with an apt but unlikely imagining of “March of the Oompa Loompas” from “Willy Wonka” as a headlong post-bop standard. It ends with “Zarina’s House,” a tribute to local arts activist Zarina Fazaldin and her home, the Jackson Ward mansion of Dr. William Henry Hughes that she rescued from dereliction. Along the way, it is a generously programmed set of songs, with room for all the players to shine individually and in unison. [Full disclosure: the reviewer took the photo on the album cover.]
Mike Hawkins’ “On Bass” is available on for streaming (and where relevant, purchase) on all major platforms.
