Marshall Gilkes: Lost Words
Marshall Gilkes
Lost Words (Alternate Side)
www.marshallgilkes.com
Rating: 
In-demand trombonist Marshall Gilkes solidifies his distinctive approach with his second release as a leader. Possessing a brainy yet conversationally eloquent style, Gilkes offers up a set of eight radiant original tunes. His arrangements are intricate, but they don’t come across as fussy. Instead, the interleaved classically-tinged lines of “The Crossover,” rolling interplay of “Late Arrival” and fugue-like introduction to “Titeuf” all have an approachable warmth that almost disguises how inventive these pieces really are.
Gilkes’s quintet has a sweeping, unified sound that carries through even as the set turns from its initial thrusting statements to progressively softer moods. Michael Rodriguez makes a good foil for Gilkes’s chatty trombone, with bold trumpet lines that seem indelibly etched in opposition to the leader’s ebb and flow. And pianist Jon Cowherd swings and beams, reaching a triumphant crescendo on “Five Nights” or playing with aching tenderness on the sober “What’s Next.”
Filed Under: CD Reviews
