Whitfield Weds Technical Skills, Intensity

The influence of Wes Montgomery on jazz guitarists, much like the shadow saxophonist John Coltrane cast over his predecessors, continues to be deeply felt some 27 years after his death. Emerging guitarist Mark Whitfield, who played Wednesday at the Jazz Bakery, has not escaped it.

Still, Whitfield’s sound is not as deeply marked by the Montgomery legacy as some. In his opening set, he played with the same accelerating rhythmic drive that characterized Montgomery’s play, and, at one point during “Harlem Nocturne,” he used his thumb to sound unison tones spaced at an octave, the trademark sound of the late guitarist.

But Whitfield works on a more intense level. He doesn’t yet have the relaxed melodic flow that makes Montgomery’s recorded work so enjoyable. Instead, the guitarist brings a frantic feel to his play, crowding his improvisations with long strings of notes that only occasionally make lyrical sense. Though creating a strong technical impression, the musical quality of his attack was often less impressive.

One exception was his work on his own “A Brooklyn Love,” which featured his shadowy introduction backed only by spare chords from pianist Victor Atkins. Unrushed and considered, Whitfield developed a moving passage that increased in volume and tempo as drummer Donald Edwards began to add atmospheric mallet play.

“Harlem Nocturne” also found Whitfield working with more care, though the quirky arrangement too often interrupted the haunting storyline. On up-tempo numbers, especially the title tune from his recent album, “7th Ave. Stroll,” Whitfield seemed less focused as he crowded nervous lines one against the other.

Pianist Atkins added cool contrast during his improvisations, efforts that developed from simple phrases to more harmonically complex statements as they progressed. Drummer Edwards kept his play direct and simple in support, but exploded in snare rolls and cymbal accents during his solos. The Bakery’s somewhat muddy acoustics made bassist Roland Guerin almost invisible behind the harmonic density of the guitar-piano blend.

Whitfield is a technically-accomplished player with a developing sense of identity, who, judging by the number of guitarists in the crowd, has already gained a following among his fellow string players. But he needs to overcome the excesses of youth and put musical content before technical facility if he wants to leave a mark.