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06 Jan

Latest Outlook by The Stryker / Slagle Band

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.

Additional Info

  • Artist / Group Name: The Stryker / Slagle Band
  • CD Title: Latest Outlook
  • Genre: Straight-Ahead / Classic
  • Year Released: 2007
  • Record Label: Zoho
  • Musicians: Dave Stryker (guitar), Steve Slagle (reeds), Jay Anderson (bass), Billy Hart (drums), Joe Lovano (tenor sax - 2 tracks only).
  • Rating: Four Stars
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