Little Things Run the World

Ben Allison | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 22, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Palmetto Records
• ASIN: B00110K602
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #154,246 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another World!!, February 6, 2008

By 

John Jackson (los angeles) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Little Things Run the World (Audio CD)

I just got this album a few days ago and I have been unable to stop listening to it...obsessively. Ben Allison is probably the most interesting and talented jazz composer out there nowadays. From the scene that brought us Brad Mehldau, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Josh Redman etc., comes a guy who may be truly the next Mingus. His music really pushes the boundaries of jazz...er music, even.

This album picks up where Cowboy Justice left off, mixing ethnic rythyms and complex arrangements to great a panoramic music experience that is hard to define. I tell people that this album reminds me of what Miles might have been doing if he were alive today. This is one of those rare jazz albums that you could throw on at a hipster party where people would look up from their cocktails and say "wow, what is this? It's really cool."

Allison's approach on this album, like all of his, is to let the band really bring out the musicality of his songs. There are seldom any bass solos, and the arrangements kindof speak for themselves.

I was disappointed that Jeff Ballard was not the drummer for this album (he's one of my fav's) but then I heard Matt Saurin's different approach and immediately fell in love with his complex grooves. In many ways Ron Horton is the star of the show with his incredibly tasty trumpet lines. He has the sweetest tone I think I have ever heard and always picks very interesting notes. Steve Cardenas is quickly becoming my favorite guitar player (I am a guitarist as well). He has the quirkiest choice of phrasings and excellent use of fingerpicking. And his tone is totally unique. He has a dirty rock tone and uses expressions that often leave your ear wondering if he's just ever-so-slightly out of tune. It's very cool and really workd with this kind of music. I forget the sax players name, but his stuff is outstanding as well. Really, just a great matchup of musicians. I hope I get a chance to see them live soon.

So here's my brief comments on the tracks:

1. Respiration- Great 6/8 feel tune that has a crazy acid-jazz (almost jamband style) section for the guitar solo.

2. Little Things...- Great groove that melds into Allison's signature use of horn orchestration to bring in a meaty chorus. Excellent sax solo.

3. Four Folk Songs- Crazy afro-cuban start that evokes the dance scene from West Side Story. Then it suddenly breaks down into a lovely guitar solo that almost has shades of Jerry Garcia (the spirit, not the style.) Rippin'.

4. Language of Love- This is currently my favorite. Steve Cardenas wrote a tru classic here. The arrangement is haunting and beautiful. The boys leave SO MUCH space in the groove that it will almost drive you mad. Great trumpet solo. Truly lovely song. Hopefully Steve will bring more of his material to the table for future albums.

5. Roll Credits- This is an almost western sounding vamp in 5/4. Really cool visons of praires.

6. Blowback- This is probably the least easily accessible tune on the album, mainly due to the strange time signature that makes it hard to tell just where the "1" is. But musically, it's very interesting. Everytime I think I hear the pattern or melody the song switches gears and goes somewhere unexpected. Very Cool.

7. Jealous Guy- A super-funky version of a Lennon classic...with horns! What else can I say. Great surprise.

8. Man Size Safe- Creepy ode to Dick Cheney (again.) Great use of atonal chords that counteract the melody, and then it busts down into a sinister rock riff and a quirky guitar solo. Awesome.

So if you enjoyed Ben Allison's previous work, definitely check this one out. Not a bad track on the disc. And alot of stuff that I've never heard before. I love most of Allison's stuff but this album shows him really maturing. The songwriting on this album is even stronger than usual. If you want a truly amazing experience, drink some of your favorite beverage or smoke your favorite herbal supplement and put on the headphones and listen to this album in a dark room. The production is truly amazing, and then there's music. This album is closer to Radiohead than to mainstream jazz. Like Brad Mehldau's "Largo", this is one of those attempts to make a more modern sounding "jazz" album. And one of the few attempts (like Largo) that actually WORKS! Great album Ben, thanks for the inspiring music.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Harmonically-rich jazz, languid and bittersweet, January 25, 2008

By 

Tony Sclafani - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Little Things Run the World (Audio CD)

Ben Allison & Man Size Safe, Little Things Run the World (Palmetto)

New York-based jazz composer and bassist Ben Allison writes highly-melodic, evocative jazz tunes that draw from rock, pop, R&B and 1960s instrumentals, but still stay true to jazz. On Little Things Run the World, the "Downbeat" magazine favorite and his newest group, Man Size Safe, team with guest saxophonist Michael Blake. The quintet blows through eight numbers that run the gamut from Latin-tinged excursions ("Respiration") to rock-styled workouts ("Blowback") to multi-part, multi-genre extravaganzas ("Four Folk Songs").

Allison underpins each tune with complex, probing upright bass lines while letting Blake and trumpet and flugelhorn player Ron Horton handle most of the melody. Allison's style, it's been noted, is unique in that it's not hard core improvisational jazz or Kenny G-like easy listening. In a way, Allison is a classicist, mainly drawing from the late 1950s style of Miles Davis and the languid, bittersweet writing of Billy Strayhorn in the 1940s. What keeps him from being a revivalist is the fact that he incorporates modern influences, one being his cover of John Lennon's "Jealous Guy". This CD, his eighth, finds him typically referencing works of science (the title refers to a book by biologist E.O. Wilson) and politics (the band's name references a purported oddball object in Vice President Dick Cheney's office).

Since you can't really say much politically on an all-instrumental CD, titles and band names are pretty much all Allison has to gets his non-musical points across. But you don't really need to know that to groove to these harmonically-rich, exquisitely played compositions.

-- Tony Sclafani
From Pop Matters, 1/25/08

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars His best?, April 11, 2008

By 

B. Lillge "musician" (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Little Things Run the World (Audio CD)

I own this album as well as Cowboy Justice and Riding the Nuclear Tiger. It's a close race, but this one is my favorite. I had to go back and listen to Cowboy Justice and Little Things back to back just to be sure. Ben Allison's compositions are rich and complex, yet accessible. I hear something new with each play. This band is one of my favorites.