All About Jazz / NY
March, 2007

Unearthed Gem

Frank Hewitt / Fresh From The Cooler
by Christopher Shoe

There are few things in this world that the jazz
lover can compare to that of hearing a live
performance. There is a type of audience
participation that is lacking when one sits at home
and listens to the album, perhaps even wondering
what it would be like to be left alone with the band.
The late pianist Frank Hewitt's album Fresh
from the Cooler is one of those rare moments when
the listener is granted the privilege of sitting in with
the band, possibly getting a taste of what it is like to
be a part of the ensemble. Recorded in the local
downtown club Smalls, on an October 1996 night
when the club was closed, this record is a private
session done with one of Hewitt's most exciting
bands - Ari Roland on bass and the late Jimmy
Lovelace on drums.

The repertoire of the album is familiar enough
to most listeners, every track a known
standard of the jazz literature. However, it is this
acquaintance with the music that leaves the band
room to grow and expound. "Monk's Mood" is a
particularly good example. With a beautifully
complex piano intro, Hewitt sets up what is
probably one of the more moving and impressive
tracks. It features both Hewitt and Lovelace, both
who seem to embellish the melody and explore
deeper rhythmic and harmonic concepts in their
solos.

One of the more exciting elements of this
album is its authenticity. On "Cherokee" the
listener is first greeted with the voice of Hewitt
explaining to the band the need to take this tune
"up.seriously up". What follows is one of the most
stunningly fast versions of the tune. The band
follows Hewitt with astounding proficiency,
reacting to his rhythmic ideas like seasoned
veterans.

Hewitt, some time after his untimely death
from cancer in 2002, is slowly becoming more
respected and sought after in the jazz idiom and
this album, with its artistic creativity and solid
musicality, is a direct representation of why he
should not, albeit posthumously, be overlooked.