Album review: 'Pay for It on the Other Side' 

Pete McCann

"Pay for It on the Other Side"

McCannac Music

petemccann.com

Over the decades, great guitarists like John McLaughlin and John Scofield have played at the intersection where jazz meets rock, creating a kinetic hybrid in the process. Pete McCann joins that elite club with his new album, "Pay for It on the Other Side." McCann has been on the scene for a while, enhancing the bands of Lee Konitz, Dave Liebman, and Brian Blade, and playing in The Mahavishnu Project (endorsed by McLaughlin). On this outing he's joined by excellent collaborators John O'Gallagher on saxophone; Henry Hey, keyboards; Matt Clohesy, bass; and Mark Ferber, drums.

One of the album's hallmarks is the interplay between McCann and O'Gallagher. They work in unison and harmonize like a horn section on the tune's heads. Then they proceed to outdo each other on one solo after another. By the time they reach the second-to-last track, "Floor Three," Hey joins in, saying "move over" with his bold clavinet solo. But this is McCann's session and he proves himself over and over, recalling great guitar stylists from Frank Zappa to Jimi Hendrix.