Monday, April 19, 2010

Loren Stillman · Winter Fruits



Loren Stillman-alto saxophone
Nate Radley-guitar
Gary Versace-organ
Ted Poor-drums

1.Muted Dreams
2.Skin
3.Man of Mystery
4.With You
5.Like a Magic Kiss
6.A Song to Be Played
7.Winter Fruits
8.Puffy

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Please, leave your comments.

6 comments:

il angelo said...

unusual sax-organ cd.compositions are really interesting. thanks, this is a cd worth of attention

Frank said...

Thanks for the Loren Stillman--great young band of creative players. Ted has played in my living room and he burns!

Frank said...

Gary too for that matter!

tom said...

Thanx for the Stillman/Winter Fruits treat. Your readers, especially deejays, might find this lineup handy:
Loren Stillman · Winter Fruits – Pirouete 2009
Loren Stillman-alto saxophone, Nate Radley-guitar, Gary Versace-organ, Ted Poor-drums
1.Muted Dreams
2.Skin
3.Man of Mystery
4.With You
5.Like a Magic Kiss
6.A Song to Be Played
7.Winter Fruits
8.Puffy
Stillman's quartet on Winter Fruits seems conventional enough, on paper. Alto sax, guitar, organ and drums: not much different from scores of soul-jazz and retro-hard bop discs in instrumentation. But if you come to this CD expecting something familiar in that vein, you'll be taken aback. The alto sounds more like Anthony Braxton or even Paul Desmond than Lou Donaldson; the guitar (Nate Radley) is far from both blues and soul; the organ (Gary Versace) not only eschews the bass/bottom role but also employs a panoply of tones and stops far from the Jimmy Smith standard and drummer Ted Poor is more colorist than kicker, more amorphous than groove-oriented. This is a finely calibrated ensemble, with subtle dynamics closer to the Modern Jazz Quartet than an organ combo, full of colors, textures, shadings and a rapport akin to a string quartet.
The group dynamic is in full effect on the opening track, Poor's "Muted Dreams," alto rising with guitar as cymbals shimmer and the organ resembles a calliope repeating a theme that develops in a slow, mostly collective, semi-improvised arc. Poor suggests or implies times and rhythms rather than stating them for the most part, except for his jaunty syncopations on the title tune (his only other composition; Stillman wrote the rest); he also contributes to group crescendos with acceleration while the ensemble raises volume. Only a few individual solos stand out—alto and organ on the torchy "With You"; alto and guitar on the power ballad "Like A Magic Kiss"—but the triumph of this album is in the rich interplay and intricate group dynamics. – George Kanzler/AAJ

pedro scassa said...

thanks a lot!
p.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Bai 5ko!