Year: 2008
Record Label: Ben-Jam Music
Style: Straight-Ahead / Classic
Review: Philadelphia-based tenor saxophonist Ben Schachter can hold his own with just about anyone on the jazz planet. On his first CD in four years, the artist surges forward with his full-bodied tone, reinforced with a slight edge and the power of an earthmover flattening a new construction site. No doubt, this cat can play! And while Schachter is touted as an underground jazz heavy in the Philly area, his artistry encompasses a wide-ranging vernacular that is rooted within the progressive jazz idiom.
Schachter flirts with the inside and outside scheme of matters. And with bassist Matt Scarano and drummer Leon Boykins providing a buoyant undercurrent, the band transmits a commanding presence. Schachter can blow the roof down or soften the pot. Yet his resonating phraseology shines radiantly on the softly woven ballad “She Wept,” which is a piece that gravitates into cascading layers of sound. Here, the leader’s plaintive cries and guest pianist Tom Lawton’s sweeping clusters offer a sequence of divergent angles amid knotty twists and turns.
One of the major highlights of the album pertains to Schachter’s fusion of Joe Henderson’s “Inner Urge,” John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps, and Sonny Rollins’ “Pent-Up House,” which is aptly titled, “Three Immortals: a Suite in Time.” Sure enough, he goes on a tear and mixes it up rather nicely as he sails through these classics via his personal touch. Then on “Einstein Daydreamt,” the saxophonist spews bullets across your music space and spirals towards the red zone in spots. Schachter brings it all back home during the peppery free-bop and final piece titled “Westward.” Hence, a superfine outing it is. Let’s hope that Schachter’s next outing comes to fruition sooner rather than later.
Artist's Website: http://www.sungunsung.com
Listen or Buy: CD Baby
Reviewed by:
Glenn Astarita
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