Wallace Roney

by Ron Wynn
Wallace Roneys dilemma recalls that of Sonny Stitt in the 50s and 60s: his trumpet tone, timbre, approach, phrasing, and sound so closely mirror that of Miles Davis in his pre-jazz/rock phase that hes been savaged in many places for being a clone and unrepentant imitator. Stitt stopped playing alto for years because of his disdain of being labeled a Charlie Parker clone; Roney, on the other hand, played many of Miles Davis parts on the 1992 tribute to the Birth of the Cool sessions, which was issued in 1993 as Miles Davis and Quincy Jones at Montreaux. Roney even addressed the situation in the publication Jazz Times in 1993, blasting what he saw as unfair critical obsession with his stylistic similarity to Davis. Its a classic no-win situation; he does sound tremendously like Davis and cant be completely absolved from critical charges of imitation. But hes also a fine, evocative player on ballads and can be fiery and explosive on up-tempo tunes. Roney put in his stint in one of the last editions of Art Blakeys Jazz Messengers. He began recording as a leader in the late 80s with several sessions for Muse in primarily a hard bop mode, many pairing him with equally energized saxophonists Gary Thomas or Kenny Garrett. In 2000, Roney took a creative turn toward funk and experimental post-bop with the album No Room for Argument, a direction he has stuck with through several albums, including 2004s Prototype and 2005s Mystikal. He released Jazz in 2007.