New Discoveries 2010! Check it out!
Troy Collins’ Best of 2010
by Troy Collins
www.allaboutjazz.com
New Review from Free Jazz:
Jeff Davis – We Sleep Outside (Loyallabel, 2010)
By Joe Higham
Downtown Music Gallery Review
This is Jeff Davis’ first disc as a leader and it is a powerful debut from one of Downtown’s best drummers. I’ve played this a half dozen times over the past month and I am still blown away by the energy and craft that went into this gem. This first piece is called “Bruce and Brunost Suite” and it recalls the creative fury and sound of that amazing Miles Davis Quintet of the late sixties, with Tony Williams kicking up the energy another notch and Herbie Hancock playing some eerie electric piano. I wasn’t very familiar with saxist Tony Barba before this but his dark tone and controlled fire-breathing sound are perfect for this group. The rhythm team work by Mr. Davis and Mr. Opsvik is consistently intense and focused, you can tell that they’ve been playing together for a while with Tony Malaby, Jesse Stacken & Kris Davis’ bands. While the electric piano-led rhythm team swirls tightly together, the horns & guitar play simmering jabs around one another on top. The total effect is astonishing! I also didn’t know of guitarist Jon Goldberger before now, except for his playing on a recent release by another downtown drummer, Harris Eisenstadt (reviewed above), but I dig the angular & well-placed notes that Mr. Goldberger adds to this great sextet. What makes this group special is that they have this way of sounding both tight and loose at the same time. On “Talk to Me” the interplay between the tenor sax and guitar is especially intriguing as they trade notes back & forth while the piano, bass & drums spin furiously underneath. “Black Beard” reminds me of one of those great mid-seventies jazz/rock/fusion records with blisterin’ guitar, wailin’ sax, and an incredible rhythm team kicking it from below. For “Fred Ullmann”, Jeff has written some lovely, somber harmonies for the clarinet, trumpet, piano and guitar, spacious and exquisitely played. I dig the way the piano and drums play in different tempos on “Slipper Hero” and then come together by the time the horns jump in. Kris plays a great out piano solo that keeps changing direction as the song evolves through different sections. Jeff Davis’ composing is consistently engaging and it keeps his marvelous sextet on their toes throughout. Another one of this month’s under-appreciated masterworks. – Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
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