Hungry ears can be fed in many ways. Some enjoy a daily dose of the familiar, a kind of aural comfort food. The artist heads the personal list of favorites, the music "makes sense," and a calm washes over the psyche. A more adventurous ear may want to explore the new and unknown, exhilarating in being carried along by surprising twists and lack of familiar resolutions.

But what does "make sense" mean? That the music follows the "rules"? That it doesn't challenge? That the individual songs taken as a whole provide a cohesive listening experience? That the music is easily categorized?

While I'm not a believer in the Intrinsic Merit Theory of music evaluation (where it's easy to compare one recording against another), I can see how certain listeners can be turned off when their music takes unexpected turns. In the jazz world, artists have flirted with this often, usually when interpreting pop tunes. When it's done right, blissful transcendence can occur (think: Coltrane's My Favorite Things"). Failure though, is evidenced by a featureless stroll though the song's framework. It's like Musak, only worse. Pop artists aren't immune to this either, though most of them are smart enough to avoid genres that don't properly resonate with their own vibe.

And then there's Tim Collins. Collins' music doesn't behave. In fact, it seems to make up it's own rules. Fade contains jazz, minimalism, funk, pop, and rock music. It shatters stereotypes of what the vibraphone can do. The amazing thing is that it all makes perfect sense.

Along with drummer Simon Lott and bassist/co-producer Charlie Hunter (Yes, that Charlie Hunter), Collins takes a tour of straight ahead jazz ("Saddlebags" — a tribute to Milt Jackson), chamber jazz (both "Lake George 1983" and the title track form the "Hell Gate Suite"), minimalism ("Stop Or I'll Throw My Keys"), funk ("Mystified"), and pop song ("Dear Old Friend" and "Joyride"). The latter pair of tunes is especially interesting to me in that they actually have lyrics...but the vibes carry the melodies. When I heard those songs (especially the rousing closer "Joyride") the thought popped into my head that these tunes wouldn't be out of place on a Joe Jackson album. Truly terrific stuff.

Of course, it's easy to conclude that Fade can only be recommended to more adventurous ears. That's selling both the music and the listening public short. There's something in this material that seems universal and vibrant — and even if most people haven't been to this place before, I have a feeling they'll be surprised at their own reactions.

Mark Saleski - Blogcritics.org (August 2008)

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