On Follow The Red Line, Potter returns to the Village Vanguard for another live disc, this one laid down in February 2007. His Underground quartet features personnel guaranteed to push his compositions up a harder incline. Craig Taborn is sitting exclusively at his dirtied Fender Rhodes, joined by guitarist Adam Rogers and drummer Nate Smith. There's no bassist in sight, but those frequencies are more than adequately handled by keys and six-stringer. Potter penned nearly all the disc's pieces, all averaging around 13 minutes apiece; ample time to drive a powerful rhythmic point deep into the bowels. Ed Blackwell's "Togo" is the only standard, if the old drummer's tune can be so termed, allowing Rogers (and, indeed, the others) to emulate a spiraling Afro guitar sound, with the leader deep-throating his bass clarinet. The opening "Train" tricks the audience into believing that probing hesitancy will ensue, but soon develops a light funk spring, which eventually darkens into a deeply-hammered groove, as Potter uncoils a thick lava solo, his tenor bolstered by bashing drums and jabbing Rhodes. Rogers is equally slow to rise and even though not all the album's tracks develop so gradually, their ultimate fate is to end up as bullish-nosed funkers, grooving hard. On "Arjuna," it's Taborn's turn to sully the atmosphere and Potter's at his honking, squealing height for "Viva Las Vilnius." The extended length of these numbers is a bonus, as their live crackle is properly encapsulated on plastic, a valuable souvenir of what must have been an electrifying residency. . Martin Longley
Tracks
01. Train (Chris Potter)
02. Arjuna (Chris Pooter)
03. Pop Tune # 1 (Chris Potter)
04. Viva Las Vilnius (Chris Potter)
05. Zea (Chris Potter)
06. Togo (Ed Blackwell)
CHRIS POTTER tenor saxophone
ADAM ROGERS guitar
CRAIG TABORN keyboards [Fender Rhodes]
NATE SMITH drums
Recorded live at Village Vanguard, NY February 15-17, 2007
Sunnyside – SSC 3075