CD review: Jeremy Pelt – The Art of Intimacy Vol. 2: His Muse – 2023: Video, CD cover

Playing jazz is a lot like love itself. It is as much about poignancy as it is about joy. Whether we listen to a torch song or read a love poem by Shelley, we experience their creator’s pain or we share in their euphoria.

And it is Jeremy Pelt’s understanding of this dichotomy of passion and restraint that makes this album so compelling. The set list is as all-encompassing as a love affair — from the straight-ahead feeling of “I Can’t Escape from You” to the breathless stillness of his muted trumpet on “There’ll Be Other Times.”

His sly, half-valve effects on “Blues in Sophistication” show an impish delight while Henry Mancini’s “Slow Hot Wind” throbs with an ever so discreet Latin feel. This may be considered a “with strings” record but Pelt does not let this descend into a vibrato-laden string sound.

There is an unusually classical feel to this album with the string quartet supporting, reinforcing and commenting on Pelt’s playing rather than sugar-coating it. Buddy Rich once said, “Jazz should be treated the same as classical music.” He was right. He “got it” and, as evidenced herein, so does Jeremy Pelt.

Jeremy Pelt has become one of the preeminent young trumpeters within the world of jazz. Forging a bond with the Mingus Big Band very early on, as his career progressed, Pelt built upon these relationships and many others which eventually lead to collaborations with some of the genre’s greatest masters.

These projects include performances and recordings with Cliff Barbaro, Keter Betts, Pelt…maintains a consistent forward momentum.. while he transmits a modern-day sense of urgency with his songs. more »Bobby “Blue” Bland, Ravi Coltrane, Frank Foster, Winard Harper, Jimmy Heath, Vincent Herring, John Hicks, Charli Persip, Ralph Peterson, Lonnie Plaxico, Bobby Short, Cedar Walton, Frank Wess, Nancy Wilson and The Skatalites, to name a few.

Pelt frequently performs alongside such notable ensembles as the Roy Hargrove Big Band, The Village Vanguard Orchestra and the Duke Ellington Big Band, and is a member of the Lewis Nash Septet and The Cannonball Adderley Legacy Band featuring Louis Hayes. As a leader, Pelt has recorded ten albums and has toured globally with his various ensembles, appearing at many major jazz festivals and concert venues.

Pelt’s recordings and performances have earned him critical acclaim, both nationally and internationally. He has been featured in the Wall Street Journal by legendary jazz writer and producer, Nat Hentoff, and was voted Rising Star on the trumpet, five years in a row by Downbeat Magazine and the Jazz Journalist Association. Pelt is currently touring throughout the United States and Europe in support of his latest release, “Soundtrack”.

1 … For Whom I Love So Much
2 Slow Hot Wind
3 If I Ruled the World
4 I Can’t Escape from You
5 There’ll Be Other Times
6 Don’t Love Me
7 Blues in Sophistication
8 Two Different Worlds
9 When She Makes Music
10 Two for the Road

Jeremy Pelt: trumpet, vocal
Victor Gould: piano
Buster Williams: bass
Billy Hart: drums
Chico Pinheiro: guitar (track 10 only)
String Ensemble arranged & conducted by David O’Rourke