Musicians: Dave Stryker (guitar), Steve Slagle (reeds), Jay Anderson (bass), Billy Hart (drums), Joe Lovano (tenor sax - 2 tracks only).
Review: The Stryker/Slagle Band is my kind o' mainstream jazz outfit – if fact, this
is a modernist/progressive combo in mainstream dress. Stryker/Slagle have an
immediate "swing" to their ensemble sound with firm melodic underpinnings and
sleek, urbane follow-through – they shall Leave No Listener Behind. But
this is mos def, not cocktail lounge or smooth jazz – Slagle makes winsome
discreet, piquant squawks and some driving, pointed, on-the-verge-of-free
soloing on "Latest Outlook." The suite-like, elegiac tribute to the late pianist
"Dear Mr. (John) Hicks" alternates aspects of Duke Ellington bluesy elegance and
Chas. Mingus/Ornette Coleman mordancy, and is not-so-incidentally one of two
tracks featuring guest Joe Lovano.
Dave Stryker's style is firmly in the mainstream (that word again!) mode of
Wes Montgomery and Jim Hall – his sound is so easy on the ear one might not
notice the dry humor and the well-placed clipped-sounding phrases, not to
mention the kind of restraint that can make you see in your mind's eye see each
guitar string vibrating and hear it in your mind's ear, too.
Billy Hart, a veteran drummer at home with nearly any style, plays with such
subtlety, economy, and unerring, empathetic swing, he should be given the Shelly
Manne Drummer of the Year Award (if such an honor existed & I say it's about
time for one) and bassist Jay Anderson is the rock-solid anchor for it all.
Latest Outlook is a rare pleasure, one that could be shared by jazz
aficionados and the jazz neophyte alike.
JazzReview.com
