Troy Roberts (ten); Silvano Monasterios (pno); Chris Smith (bs); Jeff 'Tain' Watts (dms).(Review by Lance).
Hailing from Perth, Australia, Roberts may possibly be the best ever jazz tenor player to emerge from that remote part of West Australia. Indeed he must surely rate, in jazz terms, as high as Justin Langer did in test cricket - and Roberts is still batting, albeit in NYC. James Morrison, who knows a thing or two, says, "But the rarest of all gifts is to have a unique voice; a sound that is unmistakably your own, Troy Roberts has this gift."
I'll raise a glass to that James!
All of the tracks are arranged by Roberts and five of the eight are his own compositions. The ringers are Stella By Starlight, Freddie Hubbard's Up Jumped Love and Piano Concerto No. 2 by that well known jazzer Serge Prokofiev.
Tenor playing for today but with that acknowledgement of the past - if jazz has a past, I personally find music, any music, timeless. If it cuts it first time round, it is here to stay.
The music here cuts it. Contemporary Blue Note or maybe transitional Coltrane? No, Morrison got it right - Troy Roberts is debt free.
In the engine room piano, bass and drums have their own thing going - laying down the carpet for the Trojan tenor player but also seizing the moment to have their own say.
A worthy example of a fine composer, arranger and saxophone player surrounded by sympathetic players - stars in their own right.
I suspect this may well be my CD of the Month.
Available on Inner Circle Music or via CD Baby.
Lance.
1 comment :
An unsung hero of the saxophone.
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