Circulate in New York's jazz community and you're bound to bump into Scott Colley. Since arriving in New York in 1988, Colley has been one of the most in demand bassists on the jazz scene. His impeccable sense of time, rich upright tone and strong solo sensibility have attracted calls from numerous artists including guitarists Jim Hall, Mike Stern, Dave Stryker and John Scofield, saxophonist Joe Henderson,, Clifford Jordan and Joe Lovano, pianists Harold Danko and Fred Hersch, trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Roy Hargrove, drummers Billy Hart and T.S. Monk. Even the dynamic funk-fusion-hip-hop group Lost Tribe has recruited Colley to enhance their groove factor.

"I like music that has forms that function in really different ways, where there might be chord changes in one part but no changes in another part, or changes but no time in another part", explains Colley. "I like the idea of creating compositions that might point the improvisers in a certain direction but then at the same time gives them the freedom to really have their own input, their own voice within the music. And the key to that is picking player that you love to play with and that you trust musically."

Chris Potter, who plays tenor and soprano saxes and bass clarinet here, is currently a band mate of Colley's in the Jim hall quartet. He is also featured soloist in the Mingus Big Band and has recorded as a leader for Concord Records. David Binney, alto saxophonist of Lost Tribe, is an accomplished composer in his own right who has recorded as a leader for Audioquest Records. Donny McCaslin is currently the tenor saxophonist of Steps Ahead. He has performed with the George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band, Danilo Perez, Makoto Ozone and the Mingus Big Band and was a member of the Gary Burton Band from 1988-1991. Jeff Hirshfield, one of the most sensitive and interactive drummers on the New York scene, has been featured on over 100 recordings by such a wide ranging group of artists as Randy Brecker, John Zorn, Toots Thielemans, Gary Peacock, Pat Martino, Tim Berne, Eddie Daniels and John Abercrombie. He has comprised the rhythm tandem with Colley on several recordings. And pianist Kenny Werner, himself an accomplished composer and arranger, has recorded with Joe Lovano and as a leader for the Sunnyside and Concord labels.

"Everybody on this record is first of all a great friend and also someone that I admire and have a long musical relationship with, so it was actually really easy in a lot of ways," Colley explains. "It was a process of developing the compositions for these specific individuals, playing over time with them and developing at the same time rather than just calling everybody to rehearsals and doing a record date."

"I'm really interested in contrast in any music that I play," he continues. "If it lacks contrast then I become bored very easily. In terms of form, I may decide to play on changes for a while and then maybe have no changes for a while...have a form within a form that the soloists can react to in different ways. So that whoever happens to be soloing can really truly determine the direction of their solo. And with this many different people, there's all sorts of combinations that can happen if you give each individual that kind of space. And if everyone is comfortable with that kind of freedom they're not worried if there's no rhythm section behind them, for example. So anything could happen at any time and it just comes out or reacting to the music and not forcing it in one direction. It's more like they're dictating something that isn't really yours. I think ideally improvisation is that way. It comes from somewhere else."

Pianist Werner adds his harmonically sophisticated touch on three tunes here, Colley's beautiful ballads 'In My Never Mind' and 'Ethel' and an energized romp entitled 'The Catalyst', a 20-bar blues with an odd form. On the rest of the material, harmonies are implied or created by the intricate horn voicings. 'Playing without a chordal instrument is something I really love' says Colley. 'I've done a lot of trio playing with Chris Potter and Bill Stewart and also with Jeff Hirshfield and David Binney. Those kinds of things, from my standpoint, are interesting. Because you can manipulate the chords in many different ways and send the music in a lot of different directions just by changing a note here or there behind the soloist.'

On the very evocative 'Ethel', Scott showcases that vocal approach he inherited from his four-year tenure with Carmen McRae. 'It's that idea of letting things develop in their own time without any preconception of how it should be phrased, 'explains Colley. That come naturally in groups where everyone is really listening to everyone else. That's one thing about working with Jim Hall. You're always aware no matter what's going on in the music that he's listening to every single note and your notes are influencing his notes as his are influencing yours. And I think holds true for all the musicians on this record.'

Colley's buoyant 'Swimming In Exile' is a good example of the kind of moving harmonies that he prefers in his pieces. 'It's based on a very loose chord structure that just sort of flowed. I like to create things that have just as much interest for the person playing the harmony line as the melody has, so that they're essentially creating a melody under a melody.' Binney and McCaslin provide some inspired blowing here and Scott offers up a spirited solo of his own. 'The Lean', co-written by Binney and Colley, offers some of the most scintillating moments on the record, sparked by a particularly impassioned tenor solo by Potter. The tight horn voicing her, harmonically adventurous and occasionally using dissonance to good effect, recall some of the edgy energy of the World Saxophone Quartet.

The use of bass clarinet puts a fresh twist on "Americana", a tune that Colley has also performed with the Jim Hall Quartet and also with Lost Tribe. McCaslinÕs aptly-named "Prometheus Calling" results in some of the most fiery playing on Portable Universe. Binney is in particularly inspired form here, blowing with an Ornette-like openness on his alto solo. And on the quiet closer, "Five-Two", Scott carries the melody line himself while the horn choir backs him up. "Actually, that's one of my favorite pieces on the record," says Colley, "and also one of the simplest ones compositionally. The melody is in 4/4 and the accompanying structure is in 5/2 as is the solo. And the clarity of the horns, their ability to play the ending parts, was so perfectly in tune."

Recorded direct to two-track on two days at Ambient Sound studio, Portable Universe is a triumph of chemistry in the service of composition. "I wrote with them in mind," Scott says of his colleagues. "It's pretty rare these days to do a record that way; develop a relationship over time, devise a concept for the musicians and come up with the songs for those individuals, and the make a record. What most times happens is somebody gets a deal and then they decide who would be good to back them up. Or they write the material and then they get the musicians. I've done so much of that recording and I enjoy it. But there's a lot of things that can happen with the music when you forge a bond with the musicians over time."

A startling debut from a new voice in jazz.--Bill Milkowski

Bill Milkowski is a contributor to Jazz Times and Bass Player Magazine. He is also the author of<JACO: The Extraordinary And Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius> (Miller Freeman Books)