Towner Galaher

Towner Gallaher "Panorama "

CD Review and interview by
Thomas M. Kitts

Panorama, Towner Galaher's first solo CD' is an exciting and dramatic offering. Working in a variety of jazz idioms, Galaher creates an album that is at once adventurous and unified. The veteran drummer leads a stellar band through five of his own compositions and three standards, all the while drawing from his vast experience with such luminaries as Wynton Marsalis and Chico O'Farrill as part of his Afro-Cuban Jazz Big Band. Galaher, with Bill Acosta, also forms the rhythm section of the hot NYC based East River Blues Band. The self-released Panorama has not gone unnoticed, placing in the top 50 on national jazz charts.

As Galaher explains, the album's direction is reflected in its title: "First, it represents a panorama of rhythms that I present on the CD: a shuffle, a samba, a jazz waltz, a New Orleans Second Line groove, an up-tempo hard-bop tune, a slow blues, a medium swing, and an Afro-Cuban Comparsa." Remarkably, the shifting rhythms and moods never seem hackneyed as track after track reveals surprises. Just take a listen to the understated piano of Onaje Alan Gumbs on "Midtown Shuffle" or the dialogue between "Maurice Brown'" muted trumpet and Charles Fambrough's bass at the opening of Mingus's "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat."

Panorama freshness results from not only the arrangements and the extraordinary musicianship, but also the stimulation the performers find in the newly assembled band. "We had one four-hour rehearsal the day before and then cut the entire CD in one day,’Äùsaid Galaher. "In fact, in six hours. Almost every tune was a first take. It was the case of outstanding musicians making an instant connection." Such a connection bespeaks a tribute to Galaher as band leader.

Certainly, Galaher intended Panorama as a unified statement, aesthetically and spiritually. "The other meaning of Panorama," explains Galaher, "comes from the philosophy of Nichren Buddhism that I have practiced for the past 20 years. The idea is that through taking on all of life's adversity and challenges head-on, one can elevate their state of life to the point where it is likened to being able to enjoy the panoramic view from the top of a mountain." This subtle spiritual dimension infuses Panorama and its various rhythms and moods with a sense of purpose, a unified perception, and a confident vision that is implicit rather than preachy and affirming without being insipid or sentimental.

I also hear Panorama as a very New York album, one strongly influenced from Galaher's time in the city with and apart from music. (Galaher has lived in the Big Apple for the past twenty years after moving from the Pacific Northwest.) "Midtown Shuffle," the opening track, takes us through a crowded and sometimes hectic Midtown, steadied by the always tight rhythm section of Galaher and Fambrough (who has played with, among others, Art Blakey, McCoy Turner, Wynton Marsalis, and Freddie Hubbard). The track, like a Midtown stroll, offers revelations along the way and sets the tone for the rest of the album.

At the close of the CD is "East 104th Street," whose tight Afro-Cuban rhythms take us into East Harlem and El Barrio, conjuring images of the Justo Botanica (on East 104th), one of the city's oldest emporiums of Santeria and Brazilian Candoble spiritual articles. The spicy three-minute arrangement features feisty solos from Mark Shim on tenor sax and Brown on trumpet. (Shim has played with Elvin Jones, Betty Carter, and the Mingus Big Band, while Brown has also jammed with Jones and with Ellis Marsalis and Roy Hargrove). On percussion here and on other tracks, including Galaher's samba-laced interpretation of Rodgers and Hart's "Have You Met Miss Jones?", are Frank Colon (Weather Report, Herbie Hancock) and Johnny Almendra (Mongo Santamaria, McCoy Tyner, Willie Colon).

On "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat," one of Panorama's highlights, the band evokes an eerie late night in a New York club. The track features a warm and bluesy sax solo from Shim with Brown's subtle echoing on muted trumpet and an introspective blues piano from Gumbs (who has performed with Woody Shaw, Nat Adderley, and Betty Carter). The song concludes with the reemergence of Brown's soulfully muted trumpet, which, along with the rhythm section, anchors the several twists and turns of the interpretation.

To be sure, however, Panorama is not limited by its New York connection. The city might be the prime inspirational location, suggested by, among others, the opening and closing tracks, but at Panorama's heart is a larger awareness and vision, reflected in the positioning of "Legba" (track #4) and the title track (#5) in the very center of the eight-song CD. "Legba" is inspired by Papa Legba, a West African and voodoo god who governs the threshold to the spirit world and who helps the lost to find their way. As the title suggests, the song has several starts and stops and ponders several musical crossroads in its four minutes of exhilarated movement to Galaher's persistent tapping rhythm and the song's strong New Orleans funk and parade underpinnings. "Legba" and the straight-ahead bop of "Panorama" might be said to be at the center of an outward flow of concentric circles.

"Legba" also features a modest but effective and revealing drum solo of Galaher, accompanied by Almendra and Colon. Throughout Panorama Galaher seems to shy away from the spotlight, wary of self-indulgence and more interested in playing within the context of the compositions and arrangements - an approach he executes especially well on "Legba" and "Panorama." This is not to say Galaher's drumming is bland. Hardly. He plays with passion throughout and fills tracks like "Charisma" and "I'm All Smiles" with wonderful flourishes. "My intention was not to make a drummer's album if you will," explains Galaher. "While there is definitely a strong emphasis on rhythm, I was not trying to show any special drum pyrotechnics. That's not really my thing. I have always felt that the fact that I play a number of other instruments ’Äì like guitar, bass, and piano - has helped me as a drummer to always think and play more for the music itself. This also eventually led me to write and arrange music. Something that I have really come to enjoy and appreciate." This generous approach no doubt inspired the tight ensemble playing on the album and leaves listeners awaiting further efforts from Galaher as band leader.

Those in the New York area on June 22-23 will have an opportunity to see Towner Galaher when he headlines four shows at Londel's, one of Harlem's treasures on the historic Strivers Row. "We'll be playing the music from the CD," assures Galaher, "along with some other jazz standards.For this gig I've changed the instrumentation and will feature organ, guitar, tenor, and drums." He also added that the "food is fantastic and the management and staff are all friendly and warm-hearted people that will make your evening a relaxed and enjoyable one." It promises to be a fine early summer night in Harlem. And be sure to pick up Panorama, an assured and engaging triumph. townergalahermusic.com