Oregon Jazz Scene

Soul jazz has been updated again by Christiansen. His second recording on Origin finds the hythmic guitarist mining the funky, organ-based music made famous in the ‘60s and making it his own. With Pat Bianchi on organ, David Halliday on sax and Matt Jorgensen on drums, Christiansen — a teacher at Utah State University — is in good company. The bluesy “Carefree” is a light romp that gives both he and Halliday a chance to show off their chops. Christiansen’s buoyant playing flows out of his fetboard with ease. Soul Jazz can get repetitive, but Christiansen and his group manage to make it interesting, adding chord alterations, like on the bopping, minor-keyed “Starstepper,” or doubling up on the melody with sax and guitar, as on the title track. Not ground-breaking, but played with feel and polish.