Animation Imagination
Word is that when Blue Note Records urged trumpeter Tim Hagans to dig in for a neo-drum & bass session, the brass maestro immersed himself inRoni Size's oeuvre. The sprinting palpitations of Size's music is certainly all over Hagans'sAnimation, as is the oft-neglected electric 1970s-eraMiles Davis. Despite influence, Hagans's conception is sharp and fresh. His trumpet playing reaches far higher than Miles, topping out in fast runs that maintain a tonal fullness that sounds more colored by free jazz than by bop. The acoustic musicians who back Hagans include Billy Kilson and Ira Coleman, each of whom plays with tight, crackling intensity. As for the drum & bass elements, they're certainly reminiscent ofOn the Corner, with smeary electronic lines and crunchy guitar fronting layered beat samples and breathless speed. Some might associate Hagans's methodology with that ofBen Neillor Bob Green'sGrassy Knollor evenAmon Tobin, but Hagans is the most clearly jazzed of the bunch. And as histributeto fellow brassmanFreddie Hubbard, Hagans is a supreme technician and inventive improviser.--Andrew Bartlett