{"id":11528,"date":"2025-11-06T18:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T00:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=11528"},"modified":"2025-11-07T06:31:23","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T12:31:23","slug":"review-chad-taylor-smoke-shifter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/review-chad-taylor-smoke-shifter\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Chad Taylor\u2019s \u2018Smoke Shifter\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Drummer Chad Taylor<\/a> is perhaps best known for his work as a sideman for the likes of James Brandon Lewis<\/a>, Marc Ribot<\/a>, Luke Stewart<\/a>, jaimie branch, and many others, but his latest, Smoke Shifter<\/em> (Otherly Love), is his sixth album as a leader. Those aforementioned names suggest an edgy, \u2019out\u2019 approach. Instead, with Smoke Shifter<\/em>, Taylor looks more to the inside, with a sound landing somewhere between the classic Blue Note albums of Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Chambers, and Andrew Hill, with modern sensibilities. It swings with dynamic solos, intricate arrangements, riveting bass lines, and, of course, Taylor\u2019s driving rhythms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although he made his mark in Chicago, Taylor has lived in Philadelphia for close to a decade and also directs the jazz program at the University of Pittsburgh. Seeking a group sound with different compositional voices, for Smoke Shifter<\/em>, he assembled a quintet of artists from the City of Brotherly Love who would both perform and compose. They are mostly off the mainstream radar. He was introduced to them – tenor saxophonist Bryan Rogers, vibraphonist Victor Viera-Branco, bassist Matt Engle – by local veteran alto saxophonist Bobby Zankel or label co-founder Stephen Buono. Rounding out the group is Philly outsider, trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson (Steve Coleman, Ravi Coltrane), a late addition who does not compose any of the pieces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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