(Modern Creative, Contemporary Jazz) [CD] Ben Allison & Think Free - Layers of the City (Jeremy Pelt, Steve Cardenas, Frank Kimbrough, Allan Mednard) - 2017, FLAC (tracks), lossless

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ben-allison-mn0000154091/biography
Artist Biography by Alex Henderson
A versatile acoustic bassist/composer with an adventurous spirit, Ben Allison has often excelled in jazz settings but has leaned toward more eclectic rock- and funk-oriented sounds on his own albums. The East Coast native was only nine when he began studying music, and he was 22 when, in 1989, he graduated from New York University with a B.A. in jazz performance. In 1992, Allison founded the Jazz Composers Collective, a musician-run nonprofit organization that encouraged artists to take risks and didn't shy away from the avant-garde when presenting many concerts in New York. It was in 1994 that the Collective launched the Herbie Nichols Project, which Allison co-directed with pianist Frank Kimbrough. In addition to being employed on albums by Lee Konitz, Ted Nash, and Eddie Gale, the 1990s found Allison playing live with Gary Bartz, Kenny Werner, Dave Liebman, Judi Silvano, Michael Blake, and Clifford Jordan. Allison first recorded under his own name when he did Seven Arrows for Palmetto in 1996, and has also recorded for Palmetto with his group Medicine Wheel. Third Eye followed in 1999 and Riding the Nuclear Tiger appeared two years later. Peace Pipe was released in 2002, Buzz in 2004, and Cowboy Justice in 2006. Allison often utilizes his backup group Man Size Safe, consisting of Ron Horton (trumpet, flügelhorn), Steve Cardenas (electric guitar), and Michael Sarin (drums). Little Things Run the World, credited to Ben Allison & Man Size Safe, was released on January 22, 2008. Think Free, featuring a lineup that included violinist Jenny Scheinman and trumpeter Shane Endsley, followed in 2009. In 2011, Allison delivered the covers album Action-Refraction.

Ben's 12th album features his band Think Free, featuring Jeremy Pelt (trumpet), Steve Cardenas (guitar), Frank Kimbrough (piano), and Allan Mednard (drums). Ben plays acoustic bass and, for the first time on record, electric bass.
“Layers of the City is a title that has a lot of meaning for me,” said Ben. “The ‘City’ in this case is New York, my home, where my parents were born, and where their parents arrived as immigrants. The people who live here are from everywhere. The layers of the city are reflected in the grime and uneven slope of old tenement buildings, the gleam and perfect angles of modern glass structures, the makeshift and the honed, the worn out and the state of the art, and everything in between. These juxtapositions, coupled with the cultural diversity of NYC, produce a unique kind of energy and vitality. This is why I live here.”
https://benallison.com/store/layers-digital
On his new album, Layers of the City, Ben & Think Free forge a group sound that’s greater than the sum of its parts. With a focus on melody, groove and texture in equal measures, Ben and the band engage in the kind of group interplay that has become a hallmark of their style.
https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/ben-allison-layers-city/
“Blowback,” the sixth track on bassist Ben Allison’s 12th album as a leader, is an object lesson in the transmutational possibilities that a piece of music can contain. An Allison original, it first appeared on his 2008 disc, Little Things Run the World, where it came off like an exercise in severe temporal displacement, with each musician seeming to operate in his own time zone. The effect was ear-catching but a little disconcerting. In the new version, most of the rhythmic wrinkles have been ironed out, and Allan Mednard’s drum pattern is clearly waltz-derived (though Allison can’t resist adding some syncopation to his bassline). The result is that this somewhat discursive piece with an eerie, floating melody—rendered here by trumpeter Jeremy Pelt and guitarist Steve Cardenas—suddenly sounds like a jazz classic.
The other six cuts on Layers of the City maintain a similar mood of deep thoughtfulness with a touch of mystery. On the first two, the dreamy 11/4 meditation “Magic Number” and the more episodic “Enter the Dragon,” Allison makes his recorded debut on electric bass, adding warmth to the music’s bottom end. Pianist Frank Kimbrough provides many of the second track’s highlights; he starts out strumming his instrument’s strings, then lays into a manic solo as the rhythm section builds to a free-blowing peak. At this moment of absolute tumult, Pelt re-enters, quietly playing the head in the background—a stroke of arranging genius. The completely improvised “Get Me Offa This Thing” closes the album in alluring fashion, as Pelt uses trippy wah-wah and delay effects to channel early-’70s Miles, and Allison responds with a series of simple but mesmerizing grooves.

Ben Allison: acoustic & electric bass;
Jeremy Pelt: trumpet;
Steve Cardenas: guitar;
Frank Kimbrough: piano;
Allan Mednard: drums