Julien Siegel

Urban Theme Park Basho * * * *

Urban Theme ParkBasho * * * *

There's more than a little of Joe Henderson in Julian Siegel's combustible tenor on this quartet outing, reuniting him with thegreat pianist Liam Noble But Siegel also plays soprano, bass clarinet and an almost classical sounding clarinet here, each revealing distinctive aspects of his musical personality. They all find their place in the coruscating context of a quartet relentlessly driven by drummer Gene Calderazzo and anchored by Oli Hayhurst's powerful bass. Much of it is groove- driven, vamp-based, like the opening Six Four, Interlude, the convoluted descending line of One for JT, and even Siegel's arrangement of Cedar Walton's Fantasy in D,with the virtually unstoppable imaginative flow from Siegel and the marvellous Noble carrying all before it. A bit more light and shade would have made it even better, but this is a superb contemporary take on post-bop jazz. See bashorecords.com