"Whether playing fast ("Loose Trade," "Digature of the Line," "Stain," "Fireball," "Bones Don't Cry"), medium ("Sweet Potato"), or slow ("Blue Wail"), Caine and company imbue every tune with an extraordinary blues feeling and a fat swing groove. But this is not just another straight-ahead piano trio outing. Caine gives the form a shot in the arm with these sophisticated compositions, all of which contain a bevy of surprises. Blue Wail is on the whole an aggressive, burning album, although Caine mellows a bit with "The Face of Space," an ingenious hall of metric mirrors, and "Poem for Shulamit," a rubato piece that evokes a magnificent stillness. Fats Waller's "Honeysuckle Rose," the one non-original of the set, appears as both the first and the last track, with Caine taking the tune apart in a solo setting. It's an inspired move: Why not frame a batch of modernist creations with a statement drawn from jazz piano's earliest days?" (David R. Adler, Allmusic).
"Herwig's fourth and most recent date for the Dutch Criss Cross label, Hieroglyphica is a no holds barred quartet set of all originals that finds everyone working at full throttle. Without other horns to get in the way, this is the best place to experience Herwig at his most incendiary. Starting with a low moan and then breaking into wild glissandos through the upper register, Herwig kicks off the title track with a dazzling display that then builds to a frenetic climax with drums wailing and the rest of the ensemble participating in the collective frenzy. (...) Technically accomplished and still filled with communicative appeal, Hieroglyphica just may be Herwig's most brilliant recital to date". (www.allaboutjazz.com).
"Conrad Herwig's dazzling trombone chops and intelligent compositions make Unseen Universe, his third Criss Cross release, a stirring success. His sextet can maneuver around tight corners and yet attack with the force of a band twice its size. With Alex Sipiagin on trumpet, Seamus Blake on tenor and soprano sax, David Kikoski on piano, James Genus on bass, and Jeff "Tain" Watts on drums, Herwig can be sure of the group's ability to bring lushly orchestrated charts to life and improvise with sterling clarity and brilliance. Conceptually, with the title track and also with pieces called "The Tesseract," "From Another Dimension," "Triangle," and "The Magic Door," Herwig seems preoccupied with geometry and some of its metaphysical implications. Even as he draws heavily on the '60s Blue Note sound as established by figures like Joe Henderson and Herbie Hancock, Herwig stretches the limits of modern mainstream jazz with this all-original set." (Allmusic)
"Pianist James Williams picked three of the top tenor players of the 1990s (Joe Henderson, George Coleman and Billy Pierce) to participate in a jam session-type set. The sextet (with bassist James Genus and drummer Tony Reedus) performs six selections, all but one of which are over 9 minutes long. Each of the saxophonists have plenty of solo space and many chances to trade off. The material is generally pretty basic, with two blues, a runthrough on rhythm changes, the folk song "Calgary" and a pair of standards being performed. The tenors are quite aware of each other's presence so the playing is of a consistently high quality even if no real explosions occur. An enjoyable set." (Allmusic)
Vierde album van pianist David Kikoski voor het Enschedese label Criss Cross Jazz van Gerry Teekens. David Kikoski leerde piano spelen van zijn vader. Met hem speelde hij als tiener in bars. Begin jaren 80 studeerde Kikoski aan het Berklee College of Music. In 1985 ging hij naar New York. Hij toerde voornamelijk met Roy Haynes (vanaf 1986), Randy Brecker (1986-88), Bob Berg (1988) en Billy Hart (1989). Hij speelde tevens met George Garzone, Barry Finnerty, Red Rodney, Craig Handy, Ralph Moore, Didier Lockwood, Joe Locke en de Mingus Big Band. In tegenstelling tot de eerdere albums bevat "Surf's Up" geen eigen materiaal. Verrassend zijn Kikoski's bewerkingen van "Oh No" van Frank Zappa en "Surf's Up" van Brian Wilson. (Bron: Wikipedia).
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