Album Review: ISM by Junius Paul

Like the mighty jazz bassists that preceded him (Jimmy Garrison, Ron Carter, Peter Kowald, and Buster Williams immediately spring to mind), Junius Paul often makes himself felt before he's actually heard. That's him, buoyant and deep, shadowing Makaya McCraven, the perfect complement to the drummer's rhythms--that is, when he's not bending, wobbling, and prodding McCraven and group into new terrain. Paul also supports the likes of reedman Ernest Dawkins, Roscoe Mitchell Quartet, and the Art Ensemble of Chicago, where his bass work is as sturdy, supportive, and invisible as rebar.

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