Saxophones A'Plenty (Part Two) – Three Quartets

This post features three quartets led by tenor saxophonists who double on other reeds, two that  have the same type of lineup –– saxophone, piano, bass, and drums (same drummer on both albums) –– and one that substitutes guitar for piano.

Photo: Dave Stapleton

Chris Potter signed with Edition Records in 2019 and each one of his five releases show a different side.  Last year's "Got the Keys to the Kingdom" was recorded live at The Village Vanguard and featured Potter with Craig Taborn (piano), Scott Colley (bass), and Marcus Gilmore (drums).  His latest album, "Eagle's Point", is also a quartet date but with a totally different lineup –– Brad Mehldau (piano), John Patitucci (bass), and Brian Blade (drums). Just seeing those names should be enough to make one purchase the album or, at the very least, listen to it.  You should because it's good music and great fun.

"Dream of Home" gently opens the eight-song program but as soon as the leader begins to solo, the proceedings heat up. The bassist and drummer spent two+ decades with Wayne Shorter's last Quartet and they absolutely know how to support, how to push the soloists, and how much to add.  Patitucci's handsome bass opening (such a lovely tone!) leads the band into "Cloud Message". Potter's tenor playing so assured, his notes so articulate even as he flies through a solo. Throughout the album, Mehldau not only plays with authority (is that Bud Powell showing through on his solos) but also his comping is so delightfully post-bop.  Listen below to the title track –– the music is playful, slightly funky (check out the song's chorus), and the rhythm section is so "tight yet loose".  

Photo montage: Dave Stapleton

Among the the highlights is the African-influenced tune "Indigo IIdiko" which finds the leader on bass clarinet. There's such a melodious feel to Potter's tone as well as splendid solos by Patitucci and Mehldau with the latter reminding this listener of Keith Jarrett's work with the Charles Lloyd Quartet.  Potter switches to tenor sax for his solo which moves the piece more towards the mainstream.  "Aria for Anna" finds Potter on soprano sax where his lovely tone is perfect for the ballad where the only other instrument for 2/3rds of the song is the piano.  Mehldau, one of the best at painting pictures through melody, is the perfect match for the leader's soaring solo. It's easy to miss the bass and drums when they enter but they add just the right colors.

The album closes with "Horizon Dance", a piece with rhythms that incorporate South American influences.  The bassist is at his best here interacting with the saxophonist, playing off his riffs while the drummer gleefully dances. Mehldau keeps up the heat with his own spicy solo. Blade gets a moment to "strut his stuff" before the Quartet returns to the opening theme to close the program.

"Eagle's Point" is yet another feather in the expansive cap that is the career of Chris Potter. The majority of the music and musicianship exudes joy with nary a false note.  Listen up! Good music is infectious.

For more information, go to www.chrispottermusic.com/. To purchase the album, go to  https://chrispotterjazz.bandcamp.com/album/eagles-point. 

Here's the title track:

I am a long-time fan of the music of Charles Lloyd; he rarely disappoints with his music. While I receive many recordings to review from publicists, Blue Note releases rarely show up so I buy them. Once I heard tracks from Mr. Lloyd's new album, there was no way I could ignore the music.  The 15-song, 91-minute album, features a quartet with veteran Jason Moran (piano), Larry Grenadier (bass), and newcomer Brian Blade (drums) 

"The Sky Will Be There Tomorrow" is the 86-year old Lloyd's 51st album and first studio date since 2017.  He's always favored the quartet setting although he's been more adventurous with lineups since joining Blue Note nearly a decade ago. The energy that emanates from this recording is powerfully positive whether the music is meditative (as on the opening "Defiant, Tender Warrior" or the ballad "The Ghost of Lady Day"), fiery (as on the tenor-piano take of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" where the duo take the piece "out" is a flurry of Gospel chords) or rhythmically adventurous (as on the flute-driven "Booker's Garden" and the playful "Monk's Dance"). Listen below to the last track listed in the previous sentence. After a powerfully rollicking intro by Moran, the rest of the band enters and the piece takes off.  Blade certainly can swing while Grenadier is both melodic and pulsating.

One should listen to this album in its entirety each time. There are so many masterful moments.  The fire that Mr. Lloyd creates in his sparring with Blade and then Moran on the opening several minutes of the title track is one as is the piano solo on the same track. The beauty and open feeling of "Balm in Gilead" is lovely as is the long, exploratory, gentle "Cape to Cairo" near the close of Side 4 or disc 2.  

By the time you reach the final track, "Defiant Reprise; Homeward Dove", the music should have changed you. Here are four master musicians led by a person who moved from his hometown, Memphis TN, to Los Angeles in 1956, starting a career that has spanned nearly seven decades, a musician who has recorded numerous standout recordings with musicians from around the world.  Listen closely, listen deeply –– the rewards are endless!

For more information, go to https://charleslloyd.com/.  The link to his music is there as well as his 2024 tour schedule and more.

Here's "Monk's Dance":

Photo: William Brown

Saxophonist and composer Dayna Stephens has a new Quartet and a new album.  Since his 2015 kidney transplant, Stephens has issued five albums as a leader, a fusion album underneath the name of Pluto Juice, and appeared as a sideman on numerous albums including releases by Linda May Han Oh, Johannes Wallman, Massimo Biolcati, and Ethan Iverson & the Umbria Jazz Orchestra (among others).  It's easy to understand why he's so popular as his sound on tenor is full but never over-blown, his soprano playing is melodic and not shrill, and his ever-maturing work on EWI humanizes the electronic instrument.

For his new "working" ensemble, the atmospheric sounds of young guitarist Emmanuel Michael (born in South Dakota to Ugandan and South Sudanese parents) stand out alongside the rhythm section of Kanoa Mendenhall (bass), and Jongkuk Kim (drums). Stephens first met the guitarist in 2022 when Michael was a student at Manhattan School of Music and a member of his ensemble. This ensemble went into a New York City studio in May of 2023 and recorded "Closer Than You Think", Stephens' first album for Cory Weeds Cellar Live Records.  It's Michael's sweet guitar one hears first as it leads the band in on his composition  "Bubbly".  Listen below to how easily the rhythm section creates a flow for the leader's tenor sax and the guitar.  This is one of several times on the 11-song program that this music is reminiscent of the collaboration of Charles Lloyd with guitarist John Abercrombie.  

Photo: William Brown

Like Mr. Lloyd, this music often has an "open" feel.  The way that Ms. Mendenhall and Kim move under the music allows both the leader and guitarist to go on lengthy solo journeys.  "The Nomad" (the first of three pieces composed by Stephens) is a delightful sonic experience –– just sit back and get lost in the music. "Scrutiny" (another of Stephens' pieces) is more frenetic pushed hard by Kim's powerful drumming.  Wayne Shorter's "E.S.P." adds producer Jeremy Pelt's trumpet to the Quartet. The funky undertow allows the soloists to move freely around the melody with Michael's guitar work raising the temperature of the music.  The guitarist's other composition, "Placate", may remind some of songs by Bill Frisell, especially the work he created alongside Joe Lovano and the late Paul Motian –– Stephens' solo has a gentle quality as it moves effortlessly over the rhythm section and guitar counterpoint.

Near the close of the program, the band plays pianist Julian Shore's gentle bossa-nova "Back Home".  It's here that the leader switches to EWI; before his enchanting solo, bassist Mendenhall creates a melodic solo of his own with Michael's finger-picked acoustic guitar moving dancing beneath him.  The program ends with "Placate (reprise)", first a duet for guitar and bass, closing with Stephens' tenor leading the way to a gentle finish.

The more I listen to "Closer Than We Think", the more I enjoy the interactions of the quartet, the breadth of the material (including pieces by pianist David Berkman and Ms. Mendenhall's appealing "Te" with the leader on soprano sax), and how it's easy to fall under its spell.  Dayna Stephens continues his growth as a musician and interpreter as well as very good judge of talent.  Get lost in these grooves – you will better for the adventure!

 

For more information, go to www.daynastephens.net/. To hear more and to buy the album, go to  https://daynastephens.bandcamp.com/album/closer-than-we-think. 

Here's the opening track, "Bubbly":

Ron Miles 1963-2022

When you listen to Black American Music for over 50 years, over that time one discover musicians whose music you automatically gravitate to. Sometimes it's the sound of their instrument or how their music immediately draws you in or the company they keep or the messages in their music.

Photo: Thomas J. Krebs

For this writer, Ron Miles was one such person. Since first hearing him alongside guitarist Bill Frisell in the mid-1990s, I have been attracted by how his sound and melodic approach fits into the ensembles he plays with and how that translates into the music he creates with for his own recordings.  Plus, he was a great mentor for his students––Miles has been on the Music Faculty of the Metropolitan State University of Denver since the late 1990s.  He and his family had moved to Denver, CO, from Indianapolis when he was 11. Unlike many jazz musicians who go to New York City or Los Angeles, Miles, as his family grew, stayed close to home.   

Still, his association with Bill Frisell lasted throughout the last quarter century-plus. Miles appeared on six of the guitarist's album while Frisell shows up on five of his.  It's a delightful musical relationship; they push and pull against each other at times but most of the time they engage in a musical dialogue that belies influences and embraces melody.  Miles also worked alongside Matt Wilson, Denver-based saxophonist Fred Hess, clarinetist Ben Goldberg, Joshua Redman, and drummer Ginger Baker among many others––he always managed to sound like himself in every situation.

Photo: Alan Nahigan?WSJ

His two most recent albums as a leader, "I Am a Man" (Yellowbird/Enja) and "Rainbow Sign" (Blue Note) feature the quintet of Miles, Frisell, Jason Moran, Brian Blade, and Thomas Morgan combine so many different elements such as folk music, spirituals, blues, social commentary, and more.  The group created music one could get lost inside, feel challenged yet come out of the experience satisfied.  

It was this quintet that reopened the Village Vanguard in October of 2021.  Now, less than five months, Ron Miles has succumbed to a rare heart ailment (Polycythemia Vera). His music, his mentorship, his family, all live on. He set such a great example of how to be a human being, illustrating how a musician can be part of the local community and the global community without giving up his identity.  Still, he died much too young.

 Here is music to keep you company:

Here's a fascinating trio of Otis Taylor, Jason Moran, and Ron Miles:

Here's Ron Miles with Joshua Redman, Brian Blade, and Scott Colley paying tribute to Dewey Redman and the group Old & New Dreams:

 

More Guitars in Many Moods and Modes

Photo: Alan Nahigian

Anyone with even a casual link to creative music has heard the work of Liberty Ellman but may never have heard of him.  Born in London, England, his family moved to the United States when the guitarist was still in the early grades of school.  Settling on the West Coast, he got involved with artists such as Vijay Iyer, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Steve Coleman as well as hip-hop groups and the San Francisco Mime Troupe.  Ellman made his recording debut with pianist Iyer in 1995 and his first album as a leader, "Orthodoxy", was issued by Noir Records in late 1997. After moving back to New York City, Ellman worked with many artists across the musical spectrum, from pianist Jason Moran to Wadada Leo Smith to Rwandan composer/ vocalist Somi to pianist Myra Melford's Snowy Egret and more; not only did he perform and record with these artists but also mixed and mastered the recordings.  His work with alto saxophonist and composer Henry Threadgill began when he became a member of Zooid in the latter part of 2008; he's now recorded six albums with the Pulitzer Prize-winning artist, all on Pi Recordings.

"Last Desert" is Ellman's fifth album as a leader, his first in five years, and fourth for Pi.  He's composed seven pieces for a sextet that appeared on 2015's "Radiate": his guitar, Steve Lehman (alto saxophone), Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet), Jose Davila (tuba), Stephan Crump (bass), and Damion Reid (drums). The album's title refers to the international ultramarathon "4 Deserts", in which competitors race across several of the harshest environments in the world. The album is no competition but a smartly-shaped set of songs that range from the introspective opening track, "The Sip" to the Threadgill-inspired speedy "Rubber Flowers" (splendid drumming from Reid while Lehmann and Ellman spar) to the funky "Doppler" (listen to how the tuba, drums, bass, and guitar bounce off each other while trumpet and alto sax play a percussive melody).  Finlayson, Lehman, and Ellman converse in short solos built off the main melody which as a bit of Thelonious Monk lurking in there. The blend of Lehman's tart sound, the crisp, soaring, phrases of Finlayson, and the percussive melodicism of the leader

Photo: Alan Nahigian

The title track is, actually, two pieces that stretch out to over 15 minutes. "I", an episodic composition, opens with a through-composed melody for trumpet lead, tuba bottom, and saxophone counterpoint.  The guitar and drums enter filling out the melody line and providing color. Crump joins to fill out the sound.  The next section moves forwardly rapidly thanks to the active rhythm section while Ellman and Finlayson create powerful solos. Near the close of the piece, Lehman and Rojas play a strong counterpoint to the trumpet before a quick restatement of the initial theme.  "II" starts similarly with trumpet lead, saxophone counterpoint but also tuba and guitar counterpoint.  When Reid and Crump enter, the music falls into a skewed blues pattern while the alto sax and guitar take the lead––the drums beneath the sax solo are explosive, on a rampage, as the guitar and bass play sparse riffs.  Davila steps out alone leading the way to a powerful trumpet solo . There's much to listen to here between the rhythms, the background voices, the tuba and bass support while Finlayson leads the way to the close.

The program comes to a close on the funky "Liquid" with an opening that brings to mind James Brown, Steve Coleman, West African pop, hip hop, and more without being like any of those names and styles.  Again, Reid is the spark that moves the music forward; yet, like the other tracks, the mood and pace change on a dime before the hardy tuba solo.

"Last Desert" is truly modern music. Grown on the fertile ground that Ornette Coleman, Jamaldeen Tacuma, Ronald Shannon Jackson, Henry Threadgill, and others churned up in the 1980s and 90s, Liberty Ellman moves into a newer territory, one where you hear the individual voices in the ensemble weave in and around each others, sometimes joining together, other times spinning away, yet always keeping your attention.  You might not truly appreciate this music on the first or second listen but giving it time and attention will open the amazing worlds Ellman and his cohort are creating.

For more information, go to www.libertyellman.com.

Let the opening track inside around your brain:

Guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel (born 1965 in Judenburg, Austria) has been active on the international music scene since his student days in Graz, Austria.  He first studied classical music but was exposed to jazz and, over the next three+ decades, he has kept his hands in both genres while expanding into singer-songwriter territory.  While at the Berklee School on Boston, MA in the mid-to-late 1980s, he studied with Mick Goodrick and his first major gig was with the Gary Burton Group.  Muthspiel stayed in the United States until 2001, moving to Vienna that year where he still lives.  Many of his earlier recordings as a leader appeared on his own Material Records label (where you can find the singer-songwriter albums); the guitarist signed with ECM in 2013 as member of a trio with fellow guitarists Ralph Towner and Slava Grigoryan.  In 2014, the label issued "Driftwood", Muthspiel's trio with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Brian Blade.  The guitarist has since gone on to release two other ECM albums, both featuring trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and pianist Brad Mehldau.

Muthspiel's latest for the label is "Angular Blues"; the ensemble is back to a trio still with Brian Blade and now Scott Colley playing bass. The nine-song program features seven originals by the guitarist plus, for the first time in his ECM career, two "standards", Cole Porter's "Everything I Love" and Gene Paul's "I'll Remember April."  The former, inspired by the Keith Jarrett Trio's version, swings on the power of Blade's delightful brushes and Colley's counterpoint.  Muthspiel caresses the melody and then plays a wide-ranging solo.  Colley also contributes a fine solo––he's one of the more melodic players of the bass––all the while, Blade dances underneath.  The latter tune, actually, the final track, has a lively Caribbean rhythm under the guitarist's playful reading of the melody; Colley solos first over a steady beat and quiet chords.  Both he and Muthspiel stay close to the melody for their solos plus there's a lengthy rubato section that may remind some of Marc Johnson's "Bass Desires" group (John Scofield, Bill Frisell, and Peter Erskine) for ECM

The opening three tracks feature the guitarist on nylon-string acoustic.  "Wondering" starts the album, an up-tempo tune that shows just how well the rhythm section interact with the softer guitar. The title track follows, a rambunctious piece with impressive interaction, excellent use of the bass as counterpoint, and a stop-and-go approach in the early minutes before opening to an expansive guitar solo and another excellent solo from Colley.  Listen to how Blade interacts with the guitarist during his solo and how both he and Muthspiel frame the bass solo.  The final acoustic guitar piece is the lovely "Hüttengriffe"' its folk-like melody and gently county-western strolling rhythm pulling in the listener and asking nothing more than total attention.

The remainder of the program features electric guitar and each track offers new delights.  Look out especially for the rapid-fire "Ride" for the loping melody and Blade's super brush work.   Also, check out "Kanon in 6/8", a trio romp that features sparkling guitar work (involving subtle looping) and "Kanon in 5/4" which is a solo piece for electric guitar.  One can certainly hear Muthspiel's classical training throughout the piece; he's playful and even ebullient at times but always quite melodic.

"Angular Blues" is a delight-filled album from the trio of Wolfgang Muthspiel (leader), Scott Colley, and the always masterly Brian Blade.  The usually pristine ECM sound allows the listener to hear each musician and their glorious interactions are an integral part of what makes the recording so enjoyable.  Check it out!

For more information, go to www.wolfgangmuthspiel.com.

Here's the Trio on the Cole Porter tune:

Photo: Jeff Hand

Guitarist and composer Jeff Swanson, a native of Indiana and graduate of Northern Illinois University (located in DeKalb, IL), has been based in Chicago for the better part of the past 10 years. He's performed and recorded with saxophonist Caroline Davis and drummer Charles Rumback (in the trio called Whirlpool) plus formed the quartet Living Bridge (you can find albums by both groups on bandcamp.com). Swanson has also toured with many of the area's more progressive jazz bands.  In 2018, he released his debut album as a leader on his own Bace label––titled "Case-fitter", the recording featured an octet including saxophonists Greg Ward and Dustin Laurenzi, trumpeter Quentin Coaxum, drummer Greg Artry plus Fender Rhodes player Paul Bedal.

Bedal and Artry are part of Swanson's new album, "Fathoms" (Bace), now featuring electric bassist Matt Ulery and taking the group name from the title of the guitarist's debut album.  Ward and Laurenzi show up on four of the 10 tracks.  Swanson's music takes elements of jazz, blues, prog-rock, rock, and more, to create textures that catch the ear even as they make you want to dance.  What one should notice immediately is these songs, all composed by the guitarist, have strong melody lines, even, as in the instances of "Replicant" and "Let The Children Play", the group is thrashing away; that latter tune has an excellent intro featuring Ward's alto in the lead.  There is a flow to Swanson's phrases when he is soloing while his arrangements for the expanded group on the four songs give the saxophonists the opportunity to stretch out. The opener, "Gaussian" (named for a friend), introduces the "prog-rock" from the get-go with the OP-1 synth (played by the guitarist) supplying strings.  Artry and Ulery really lock in on the track, really pushing the song forward as they create a cushion for the guitar solo.

There are less intense moments scattered throughout the program such as the insistent "Roads", "Elisha" (with a guitar solo that starts quietly and picks up slowly), and the medium-tempo blues "The Accutron" (which also has several ballad sections that Ulery and Swanson use to begin their solo)s. Bedal takes the lead on "Fyra", first with an unaccompanied section that opens him interacting with Ulery and Artry while the leader creates eerie noises in the background.  "Tre" is a handsome ballad with a long opening section in which Swanson sticks close to the melody before Ulery's melodic bass solo (the only person to get a solo on the track).

There's more than a touch of West Coast funky swing on "Färvel" with the drummer's clicking sticks and the bassist's thumping bottom notes. Swanson's intense solo stands out as does Ward's romping spot. As the climax, the band drops the volume quickly and reprises the opening. On the afore-mentioned "Let The Children Play" (the track that closes the album), Swanson's guitar work and subsequent solo evokes sonic images of both Jimi Hendrix and Vernon Reid.

"Fathoms" is one of those albums that dances across so many musical genres that the smartest move is to just let it rip through your speakers at a high volume and enjoy the ride.  What fun!

For more information, go to www.jeffswansonmusic.com.

Here's a track with the saxophones:

Trio Joys!

Trumpeter, educator, and artist Jamie Breiwick has made a name for himself over the past two decades in each of his chosen fields.  His artwork adorns many albums by Mid-Western artists including those on Shifting Paradigm Records (as well as the cover of the Lesser Lakes Trio of which he is a member).  He has worked with numerous artists in the Milwaukee area including Matt Wilson, saxophonist Ralph Bowen, and pianist David Hazeltine.  Breiwick has taught and directed ensembles in several different schools and is  currently on the faculty of the Prairie School in Racine, WI.

His new release for Shifting Paradigm is "Awake/The Music of Don Cherry" and features the trumpeter in the company of bassist Tim Ipsen and drummer/engineer Devin Drobka (also a member of Lesser Lakes). The tribute to the great pocket trumpeter, member of the Ornate Coleman Quartet that recorded for Atlantic Records, and a world traveler, features six songs (plus two "alternate" takes) from Cherry's repertoire.  Breiwick doesn't attempt to "mimic" the elder trumpeter's style; instead, he and his rhythm section move inside the music with passion and excitement, making it their own.  Check out the trio's journey through "Awake Nu" (composed for Cherry's 1966 Blue Note Lp "Where Is Brooklyn?"). The trumpeter romps throughout as the bass and drums roil and rumble.

Before joining Colin Wolcott and Nana Vasconcelos in 1978 to record and tour as CODONA, Cherry recorded "Hear & Now" for Atlantic Records.  Breiwick and company take one tune from that album, "Mahakali", remove the South Indian sounds and replace them with a funky backbeat, making it feel like a dance tune.  There are two versions of "Art Deco" from the 1989 album of the same name for A&M – that album paired with the rhythm section from several of Ornette's Atlantic Lps, bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Billy Higgins.

"Awake/The Music of Don Cherry" hopefully will push younger listeners to discover the work of Don Cherry (1936-1995) as well as discover the impressive recordings of Jamie Breiwick.  This album s short – with the two alternate takes, it's just under 33 minutes – and it certainly leaves the involved listener wanting more. That said, listening to this music will be time well spent!

For more information, go to jamiebreiwick.net.

Here's "Brown Rice":

Photo: Omid Zoufonoun

Bassist, educator, and composer Jeff Denson first came to critical notice in the early 2000s as a member of a trio with Berklee classmates Florian Weber (piano) and Ziv Ravitz (drums). The threesome toured and recorded with alto sax legend Lee Konitz.  Denson went to earn his graduate degrees at Florida State University and the University of California/San Diego where he studied with and befriended fellow bassist Mark Dresser. The bassist is currently on the faculty of the California Jazz Conservatory. He has recorded a slew of albums as a leader, co-leader, and sideman plus started his own Ridgeway Records in 2015 – the label's initial release featured Denson's trio backing Lee Konitz.

The label's latest release is "Between Two Worlds" credited to the trio of Denson (acoustic bass), Romain Pilon (guitar), and Brian Blade (drums).  Pilon, a native of France, and Denson have been friends for over two decades, working together on ideas that led to bringing Blade, who is one busy musician and first met the bassist in 2017 when they were the rhythm section for guitarist Joel Harrison's "Spirit House", into the mix to record the 10 songs – five each composed by Denson and Pilon – that make up the album.  At first glance, one might wish to compare this trio with the one that recorded with Pat Metheny on 1976's "Bright Size Life" but the newer recording is quieter, more contemplative, but no less interesting.

While each track is unique, it's best to first listen to the program without trying to pull it apart.  Listen to how melodic both Pilon and Denson are as composers and soloists as well as how Blade easily, often quietly, moves the music forward.  You'll notice how these songs are three-way conversations, how supportive each person is underneath the solos, and how no one person hogs the spotlight.  When you go back on further listens, moments begin to stand out.  one has Blade's unaccompanied opening to Denson's "Listen Up" sets the pace for what follows and never loses its forward motion when the bass and guitar enter.  Dig the playing of the drums and guitar beneath Denson's solo. Pilon's "Generation" opens in ballad setting yet picks up in intensity during the guitar solo.

The title track, composed by Denson, is a spotlight for the bassist's impressive arco playing, his solo rising above the guitars (Pilon overdubbed) and Blade's melodic drumming.  The musicians don't rush through the ballad, allowing the contemplative mood to spread gently through the sound spectrum.  Listen to the song posted below to hear how the trio interact, how they change direction naturally, and always pay attention to the overall sound and mood.

"Between Two Worlds" will grow on you.  The music does not explode one's ears as much as it expands in the mind.  Give the music the attention it deserves and you will be rewarded!  Kudos to Jeff Denson, Romain Pilon, and Brian Blade!

For more information, go to www.jeffdenson.com and/or www.romainpilonguitarist.com.

Here's a cut for your edification and enjoyment:



Check out the video below for even more information (and to enjoy Brian Blade's delightful smile):