TAD BRITTON
Genres: Post Bop, Nu Jazz • United States

Tad Britton grew up in Sturgis, South Dakota; hence the title of his debut album as a bandleader, Black Hills. The Seattle-based drummer has led an unusual life for a jazzman, getting his start in country bands as a teenager and spending a lengthy stint in the official house band of the Church of the Subgenius, the Swingin' Love Corpses, during the '80s and early '90s. A long association with mellow bassist Jeff Johnson, his musical partner on this low-key trio set, gives a better clue as to the content of Black Hills. Britton, Johnson and pianist Marc Seales are beholden to no particular subgenre of contemporary jazz, favoring a simple, meditative style and a taste for unexpected covers one wouldn't expect to work in a piano trio context, like James Taylor's "Fire and Rain," Michel Legrand's "The Windmills of Your Mind" and, most unusually, Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" read more...