Phil Haynes, a drummer and composer who was born in Oregon, seems to be on my wavelength in 2025. Though he’s always been forward looking, lately he’s also found himself revisiting his past, particularly working with electric guitarists in the sort of jazz fusion that came of age around the same time that he and I both did in the late ’70s.
Haynes, who spent a quarter of a century in New York and now abides in Pennsylvania, has played on something like 90 releases on various American and European record labels, and with a who’s who of the era’s top players. No matter how committed to continuing growth as an artist at whatever age, it’s only natural for some to cast a backward glance at some point. Haynes published a well received memoir called Chasing the Masters in 2023, and now he’s simultaneously released two projects that reconnect him with the guitar based jazz rock fusion of the classic era.
“I marinated in the iconic electric guitar sounds of B.B King, Jimi Hendrix, the British Invasion, Broadway’s ‘rock operas’, and eventually jazz greats from Wes to Jim Hall, John Abercrombie, Mahavishnu, and beyond,” Haynes says.
On Return To Electric Haynes teams up with longtime collaborators Steve Salerno on guitar and Drew Gress on bass for a program of classic fusion and some originals in that vein. I’m particularly drawn to this one, a generous 13 tracks that includes five covers plus five Haynes compositions and one brief “Cadenza” each from Gress and Salerno. The covers include a couple of my favorite of the era, John McLaughlin’s “A Lotus on Irish Streams” from the Mahavishnu Orchestra’s Inner Mounting Flame, and the final track, Wayne Shorter’s “Paraphernalia” from Miles Davis’s Miles in the Sky. (As a congenital copy editor, I have to note the rather humorous typo in the title of “Lotus” as credited on the album, which calls it “…Irish Springs” instead of “Irish Streams.” Undoubtedly it’s very refreshing.)
It opens with Chick Corea’s delicate “Crystal Silence” then dives into a thunderous take on McLaughlin’s “Spectrum” and the strutting “Living Time,” culled from composer George Russell’s 1972 large group project of that name for Bill Evans.
Amid those monsters of jazz fusion, Haynes holds his own and then some. “Spell” is impressively Mahavishnu-like, a mid-tempo that finds guitar and bass laying down the plodding head melody in unison before alternating 
bluesy solos. A similar approach is followed on “Eclipse” but in a more post-bop style that allows Haynes lots of breathing room. The elegiac “Paul / Christian” is just beautiful, showcasing Gress’s melodic arco chops. Salerno tunes up the classic jazz guitar tone on “Cycle” while employing it in a decidedly modern way.
Favorite track: “Paraphernalia,” which shines on Haynes’s arranging skill, gives Salerno and Gress a chance to toss Shorter’s motif back and forth, and allows all three to blow the lid off. Haynes’s “Spell” is a banger, too.
Released at the same time, Transition(s) finds Phil teaming up with guitarist Ben Monder on a decidedly more modern excursion. Named for John Coltrane’s late composition “Transition” from the saxophonist’s yes, transitional album recorded in 1965 but not released until 1970, posthumously. This is a wild free excursion that to my ear blends Coltrane’s “sheets of sound” approach and a McLoughlin style guitar explosion. The only other cover is a languid version of Sammy Cahn’s standard “I Fall In Love Too Easily.”
I don’t connect with much else on this highly abstract album, with the exceptions of “Openings” and the final track “Epilogue,” both of which are (to me) enjoyably minimalist. “Beyond” has especially gnarly guitar tone from Monder’s guitar. With a few exceptions, especially on the non-covers, Haynes’s playing is really more “percussion” than “drumming.”
(Corner Store Jazz, 2025)
