Luca Stoll (ten); Clovis Nicolas (bs); Tadataka Unno (pno); Peter Van Nostrand (dms).
(Review by Lance).
Stoll, American saxist (now living in Oxford) recorded this with his fellow Americans in Vevey, Switzerland where the quartet were finishing an 8 night run at La Guinguette - a music bar.
The album was recorded live at the venue using a single mike resulting in a 'good old-fashioned mono sound' hence the title. In fact the sound is indeed what we remember from those pre-stereo days.
A mix of contemporary compositions by Stoll and some choice standards (Old Folks; Get Out of Town; The End of a Love Affair and How Long Has This Been Going On?) make this an album of many delights. Stoll's dry tone, although the notes quote Hawkins and Webster as influences, brings to mind such as Warne Marsh and Spike Robinson. Probing, explorative, no fastest gun in the west showboating, just the lost art of making every note count. Perhaps even a suggestion of James Moody. However, the name game is irrelevant, Stoll is his own man - particularly on the originals.
Unno solos well and Van Nostrand kicks and explodes when kicking and explosions are needed as well as being featured on End of a Love Affair but Nicolas suffers from the single mike recording. This reminds me of the old days when we'd listen to bootleg records of Parker or Lester, oblivious to the sound quality, just delighted to hear our heroes in situ. Well this quartet have yet to become heroes but, they're on their way and if they, or Luca, record again under studio conditions then the result could be something special. As it is, it's a good introduction to a player(s) who may well become a major force on the UK scene.
There's an interesting concept to the sequence of tracks inasmuch as, after each one, the key signature is raised by either a fifth or a semitone from the track preceeding - running from G major to C minor. I doubt if the average Joe will notice or appreciate it, this average Joe didn't!
Lance.
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