‘Planter of Seeds’ makes for the latest album release from sought after bassist and composer, Jake Leckie.
The highly educated and highly decorated artist is driven by a passion for playing that continually strives to push beyond expectations and any established or pre-conceived formulae. Having played amongst ensembles and collectives that run the gamut of contemporary jazz – and beyond – including having studied chamber and baroque music in Montreal, having played with tango, Latin and salsa bands (Susan Alcorn, The Pacific Mambo Orchestra), gospel ensembles as part of church bands in Baltimore and the Bronx, hip-hop collectives (Baltimore Boom Bap Society), The String Orchestra of Brooklyn, the dusty analogue soul of the Roll$ Roy¢e trio… to delve deeper into Leckie’s lengthy list of projects and collaborators that have seen the bassist either record or perform with, produce for or having served as an invaluable studio resource for engineering and mixing albums would make for a considerably longer article.
Leckie’s projects are often rooted within their own narratives. His previous offering, ‘The Guide’ (Ropeadope Records, 2022) was a project very much indicative of its time having been recorded in line with the strict quarantine conditions imposed as a result of a certain global pandemic. A wonderful project nonetheless but ultimately one that found its own distinctive being as a result of the unexpected circumstances that surrounded its creation.
For ‘Planter of Seeds’, Leckie’s third full-length outing as bandleader adopts a decidedly more optimistic and considerate tone throughout. Perhaps as an acknowledgement of the last album’s recording process, ‘Planter of Seeds’ finds its inspiration within each of us as individuals – how we interact with those around us and, ultimately, asking us to look intently at the indelible imprint that we each leave on the world.
In that regard, ‘Planter of Seeds’ does work as a fitting companion piece of sorts to its predecessor. While ‘The Guide’ featured Leckie’s upright bass alongside drummer Elizabeth Goodfellow and guitarist Nadav Peled, for this go round, that core trio arrangement expands to induct three more players into the fold including pianist Cathlene Pineda, saxophonist Randal Fisher and trombonist Darius Christian.
The contributions of the band’s newest additions really do deliver wonders on all fronts adding inspired new dimensions to Leckie’s compositions and elevating the whole product as a result. Leckie’s projects have always served as mini homages to everything that he has helped create up to that point which each of his three projects to date showcasing subtle nods towards soul and blues with twinges of Latin and neo classical styles infused within. For ‘Planter of Seeds’, we’re treated to some of Leckie’s best whether that’s the confident swagger of ‘Big Sur Jade’, the quick-time tempo of ‘Clear Skies’ or the elegant album closer ‘The Daughters of the Moon’.
Once again, it makes for a thrilling experience to see Jake Leckie reinvent not only how others perceive his music but how he perceives it too by reimagining his own rule book, side-stepping complacency and delivering something special.
