Featuring
Gunter 'Baby' Sommer on drums, Assif Tsahar on bass clarinet,
Steve Horenstein on baritone and soprano saxes, Yonatan Albalak
guitar, Yoni Silver bass clarinet, Yonatan Kretzmer tenor saxophone
and JC Jones bass. Israeli bassist, JC Jones, continues to
invite great improvisers from around the world (like Joelle
Leandre, Barre Phillips & Ned Rothenberg) to play and record in Israel for the Kadima label with great
results. This disc features solos, duos, trios and quartets
with FMP legendary drummer Gunter 'Baby' Sommer and some of
Israels' finest musicians. Commencing with a trio of Sommer
with Steve Horenstein on bari sax and JC on bass, we are off
to a strong start. Gunter does a splendid job of pushing the
trio through a series of different rhythmic sections that keep
changing yet are connected. He worked perfectly with bassist
JC Jones who also bows powerfully and interacts with Steve's
great bari sax. The quartet with Assif Tsahar on tenor, Steve
on soprano, JC on bass and Gunter on drums is another spirited
piece, starting with restraint before launching to the stratosphere.
Powerful and superbly captured, sound-wise. If I didn't know
any better, I would think that this is a long lost classic
from the loft jazz days of the seventies. "Sommertime" is an exquisite, thoughtful and most creative solo drums piece with a bit of
vocal punctuation, six minute short story. "Bast" is a long trio for bass clarinet or tenor, bari sax and drums which again works
marvelously well at balancing the talents of the trio, mostly
on the more restrained side. Superb cymbal work from Gunter
here. "Yo Yo Yo" features a quartet of Israeli players whose names all start with "Yo" (hence the title) and with whom I was not previously familiar. Bass clarinetist
Yoni Silver is quite good while Gunter plays great mallets
along with him. Guitarist Yonatan Albalak and tenor man Yonatan
Kretzmer also play with a fine, simmering and subdued spirit.
The final duo with Assif on tenor and Gunter is also a perfect
closer to this strong disc with Assif blowing hard with that
great Trane-like tone. JC Jones' Kadima label consistently
releases gems of international improv at it best. - Bruce Lee
Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery |