Sphere: "Sphere" (Verve)
Originally formed in 1982 in celebrating the music of Thelonious Monk, Sphere was a formidable quartet until its saxophonist, Charlie Rouse, died about five years later. And, until late 1997, that was that. Then the rhythm section - Kenny Barron, Buster Williams and Ben Riley - revived the idea and tried out a few saxophonists before settling on altoist Gary Bartz. On the evidence of this album, he's an inspired choice. At once logical and passionate, Bartz fits into this group as if to the manner born. Barron, in particular, seems galvanised by his playing; always a brilliant pianist, he exhibits a sheer joie de vivre in his solo work which must have come as much from having Bartz in the quartet as it does from the support of Williams and Riley.
Ray Comiskey
Alan Barnes: "A Dotty Blues" (Zephyr)
This outstanding release features a nine-piece band packed with world-class performers. Barnes arranged most of the material, which extends from Ory's Savoy Blues to Joe Zawinul's Birdland, for a magisterial group including himself, Gerard Presencer, Mark Nightingale, Andy Panayi and Iain Dixon in the front line, and a rhythm section completed by Brian Lemon, Anthony Kerr, Dave Green and Steve Brown. The range of orchestral colour he draws from the ensemble by deft and dextrous blends of brass and reeds is a constant delight. It's matched by an ability to come up with distinctive melodic lines and set them off against each other reminiscent, at times, of the early Bill Holman. And the soloing? Never less than superb.
Ray Comiskey
George Russell: "New York, NY" (Impulse!)
Unavailable for decades and among the rarest of all his albums, this is the only big band release under Russell's name from the late 1950s - early 1960s era that saw the great composer/arranger established as a major theorist in jazz. If it sounds less startling now than it may have then, it's possibly because his innovations have been absorbed to some degree since, especially in film scores. However, this suite in praise of the Big Apple is full of interesting changes of mood and colour, though it is, inevitably, episodic, and it's garnished by solo work from Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Art Farmer, Phil Woods, Bob Brookmeyer and Frank Rehak. Despite the dated, redundant pre-rap "rapping" of Jon Hendricks on each track, it's an absorbing release.
Ray Comiskey
