George Colligan (piano); Nicole Glover (tenor/soprano); Linda May Han Oh (bass); Rudy Royston (drums).
(Review by Lance).
Whiffle Ball kicks off this appropriately titled album*. It's a goer! Four musicians with whom I hadn't previously been acquainted with although I should have guessed that anything from the Janisch/Whirlwind stable ain't going to be a gelded selling plater.
Far from it, an unblinkered front runner - a stayer.
Colligan, this is album number 28 for him as leader (where have I been all these years?), plays powerhouse piano, driving, supporting, soloing - a name to reckon with.
Nicole Glover, described as a rising saxophonist, is all that and more. Tenor or soprano she helps lift the already skyborn trio even higher which is no mean feat. Linda May and Rudy Royston are longtime collaborators with Colligan and a great team in their own right as the trio tracks prove. Ms. Glover pushes them and herself to the boundaries of musical insanity whilst keeping the white coats at bay. No straightjackets needed.
It's not all shooting for distant galaxies, there's many tender moments even in Retrograde Pluto which suggests that that far distant planet may be warmer than the astronomers think. Linda May's bass intro and Colligan's follow up is cool without being cold. Linda May brings in Southwestern Silence in a similar vein with Colligan picking up the emotive mood.
Empty has Nicole at full speed on tenor.
The Nash is wild improv and totally accessible. It's inspired by a club in Phoenix, Arizona, and described as unashamedly jaunty, even anarchic. It's all of those things and more. There was a time when the Original Dixieland Jazz Band was described as anarchic and that was a 100 years ago. One wonders...
Lance.
*More Powerful inspired by the first Star Wars movie but I won't hold that against him!
Available June 30 -Whirlwind WR4708 - although it can be preordered on Amazon (and, I'm sure, via any city centre record store. There's still a few - support them!).
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