Pre-Owned Tour de Flux (CD 0743431503121) by The Jazz Mandolin Project

0743431503121. Pre-Owned: Good condition. CD. The mandolin has been quite prominent in bluegrass and Irish/Celtic music, but in jazz, mandolin players have been few and far between. That fact makes the mandolin very fertile ground for Jamie Masefield, whose Jazz Mandolin Project takes its share of chances on Tour de Flux. Even if Masefield (who plays the tenor banjo as a second instrument) used his mandolin for nothing but Charlie Parker classics and stuck to standard bebop chord changes, this album would be unusual because not many improvisers have used the mandolin for that sort of thing. But Masefield is far from a retro-bopper, and this adventurous outing draws on post-bop, avant-garde jazz, and fusion, as well as progressive rock and world music. When the Project (which also includes bassist Chris Dahlgren and drummer Jon Fishman) digs into abstract, quirky offerings like "Chapeau," "Barber's Hint," and "Clip," you're listening to a group that isn't afraid to take some chances. This is a CD that won't be accused of being stuffy or conventional. ~ Alex Henderson, Rovi