The album's title seems to allude to the spirit of adventure and exploration embodied in sci-fi writing of the early 20th century. Some neat illustrations support this theme, with images of dirigibles, giant squid, arcing electricity, and mustachioed men in top-hats. Oh, and there's a quote from H.G. Wells... Some song titles also evoke that gas-lamp, Victorian vibe with names like "Tesla Coil," "Ode to a Zoetrope," and "Dirigibles." The music is all original, minus one arrangement of the love theme from The Time Machine, called "Weena." If you didn't know, Weena was the tragic love interest in the H.G. Wells story of the same name. Nelson plays solo on several tracks, most notably "Tesla Coil." This tune sounds like a cross between a silent movie score from the '30s and something far more contemporary, with a striding left-hand that breaks into powerful, punchy 4ths and 5ths, pitted against arpeggiating right-hand lines describing the melody.
The rhythm section, including Nelson and bassist Dave Robaire with Dan Schnelle on drums, swings tightly throughout the record. Robaire and Schnelle, we guess, have spent some time together with Nelson playing these songs, and we could imagine guitarist Larry Koonse is also a regular. The horn players don't sound as well integrated, but do a masterful job playing the composed portions of the ensemble material Nelson recorded for Discoveries. The horn solos are a mixed bag, aside from trombonist Alan Ferber, who seems utterly incapable of playing a bad-sounding note against any chord thrown his way. Brian Walsh turns in a good performance on bass clarinet, paired well with Robaire's bass in spots. Vanessa Robaire, who we assume is a family relation to Nelson's bassist, does some nice wordless singing that sounded like an homage to old Pat Metheny, or like some Brazilian repertoire from artists like Hermeto Pascoal.
Perhaps the best recommendation is that we genuinely want to hear more after finishing Josh Nelson: Discoveries. It stayed on our CD platter far longer than any jazz CD we've picked up recently, and we would confidently recommend it to any jazz fan. It's not blatantly contemporary in the sense one gets from groups that have cropped up in years past, performing rock tunes with jazz instrumentation. Nelson wears his jazz influences on his sleeve, but looks young enough to have been influenced by pop music of the last two decades. We're excited to see where his musical career is leading, and hear more of his fine discoveries.
