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Saxophonist Joe Santa Maria and bassist David Tranchina are the main composers and band leaders on “Oblique Rhyme”, but they get ample help from pianist Gary Fukushima and drummer Colin Woodward who both provide musical direction and a couple compositions of their own. Looking at the many musicians these four have worked with in the past, some big names include; Bob Mintzer, Mike Stern, Patrice Rushen, Bennie Maupin, Walter Smith III and many more. “Oblique Rhyme” reflects today’s current jazz with an emphasis on abstract rhythms and tonality. Many influences are at work here, but in their own stated reflections on their music, two names tend to show up the most; Ornette Coleman and Wayne Shorter.
Album opener, “War Crime”, is one of the best tracks on the album with it’s driving but fractured hard bop, very much in an Ornette style. “Hidden Lake” is a pastoral and almost gospel sounding ballad that reflects Tranchina’s childhood in a sleepy rural community. The three tracks that follow are not actually atonal or a-rhythmic, but they are very free and loose with a shifting feel for pulse that may remind some of Paul Motion. Maria’s choppy phrases on the saxophone also recalls Wayne Shorter’s work with Miles and the first more experimental version of Weather Report. The Weather Report comparison is furthered on “Ambient Ambience”, on which Fukushima backs Maria with electronic keyboards.
The album closes out with, “This Must be for You”, a Herbie Hancock styled post bop ballad, “Caricature”, which brings back the Ornette styled fractured hard bop and “Picking up the Pieces”, a Wayne Shorter composition in flowing three time. “Oblique Rhyme” presents a nice addition to today’s world of modern jazz, all the tracks are good, but quite possibly, a lot of jazz fans would like to hear more tracks like “War Crime” and “Caricature”, those are the two with the most heat.
