Jeff Ament
Tone

Almost inevitably, in the career of a professional musician who is part of an established and universally appreciated group, there comes a desire, ambition, and curiosity to embark on a slightly different path, I would say more intimate, one that has its own flavor while still maintaining points of contact with the “mother” project.

Jeff Ament (Havre, Montana, March 10, 1963), bassist and co-founder of Pearl Jam, is the latest in order of time among the Seattle group members, following the works of Stone Gossard (“Bayleaf”, 2001) and Eddie Vedder (“Into the Wild”, 2007), to attempt a solo sortie with his “Tone”, distributed in 3000 copies in American independent stores and through a mini-site dedicated within the mother group's website. Special mention goes to the artwork of the album, designed by Ament himself, which reminds me of the beauty of having original albums, smelling them, and appreciating the work of a musician who also successfully ventures into the artistic field. The album consists of 10 tracks, written and arranged over the years (starting from 2000) by Ament himself (probably for Pearl Jam), who plays all the instruments (except for the drums, managed by Richard Stuverud, a longtime friend) and also tackles singing (except in “Doubting Thomasina”, interpreted by Dug Pinnick, voice of King’s X).

As much as it is always challenging to try to explain, narrate, or review an album (I believe that only the author of an album can talk about it without the risk of saying stupid things or falling into easy postures of a music scholar), I'll try to tell you about it.

Firstly, I focused on clearing my mind and forgetting that this is the bassist of Pearl Jam, to avoid comparisons. Having done this, and putting on the CD, the first sensation that seems to emerge is the absolute honesty of the work: the sensation, that is, of a guy having fun playing and sharing his musical ideas, accompanied by rather talented musicians. This is “Just like that”: guitar, bass, and drums draw a pretty and catchy riff, which lasts just the right amount of time, without boring, with non-invasive and limited feedback interventions (for those who play, it's the classic riff that makes you ask: "and now, how do I get out of this alive? How do I develop it?"). “Give me a reason” and “The forest” also move in this territory marked by "punk" attitude (the quotes are there for a reason), while in the third (“Bulldozer”), the main riff is the one that will become the refrain of “Severed hand” (contained in “Pearl Jam”, 2006).

The probably least accessible and easy piece is “Relapse”, with the semi-growl refrain… something that stumped me but probably gives the track a special color, as it lacks an organic structure, seeming to live off cues that perhaps struggle a bit to blend: it's one of those pieces that probably require more listens to be fully appreciated.

Ament does not shy away from dabbling in decidedly soft and “comfortable” acoustic turns, if you'll allow the term: “Say goodbye” and “Hi line” transport me to one of those halls lit by dim and flickering lights, where your companions are the guitar and the snow falling among the trees of the Montana forests. Despite promising myself not to make comparisons, I consider these two pieces as a sort of appendix to Vedder's former gas station attendant's solo work (though missing the evocative power of “Guaranteed”, “The wolf” or “Far behind”); “Life of a salesman” closely resembles Gossard's solo work in his best moments; the album closes with “The only cloud in the sky”, an episode of rock that's almost “tribal”, bringing us back to the atmospheres of some passages of “No code”. But Ament reminds us, if needed, of having participated in that masterpiece that is “Temple of the Dog”: “Doubting Thomasina” is the value-added of this album, a song that had it been performed by Chris Cornell, in my humble opinion, could have stood alongside “Call me a dog”, from the aforementioned April '91 project (but the vocal performance is remarkable nonetheless).

“Tone” is a good album, well-played, well-recorded, clearly revealing what underlies any profession: the love for what you do and talent. Jeff Ament has demonstrated, in my opinion, that he has it. After all, “Nothing as it seems” has been reminding us of this for 8 years now.