This week's jazz CDs reviewed
DAVE O’HIGGINS
Sketchbook Jazzizit ***
If the aggression is not as cutting on this throwback to the Johnny Griffin-Gene Ammons era of two tough tenors slugging it out musically, O'Higgins and fellow tenor Eric Alexander meet the other idiomatic demands exuberantly. There are no surprises on a programme of originals by Tyner, Gillespie, Rollins, Wess and O'Higgins, plus a couple of seldom played standards, but there is enough contrast in the tenors' respective ways of handling the changes to make it work, and an ideal James Pearson-Arnie Samogyi-Kristian Leth rhythm section to sustain them. Behind the inventiveness, Sketchbook is permeated by the musicians' evident enjoyment in playing, from the brusque tenderness of the ballads, to the blues and straight- ahead swingers. And it ends with an ebullient echo of Ellington in Frank Wess's happy Water Jug. Bop fans will love it. www.jazzizit.co.uk RAY COMISKEY
JULIAN LAGE
Sounding Point EmArcy ***
Lage, whose guitar first came to prominence with Gary Burton, makes his leader debut with this unusual example of his virtuosity and composing skills. These are mostly his originals, and much of the material is either through- composed or considerably arranged for quintet, quartet, trio or duo formats that include guitar with alto, cello, bass and percussion, mandolin and banjo, and piano. The writing on the quintet and trio pieces reveals a fine sense of motivic development and colour. They are like chamber music, with some scope for improvisation; though sometimes a bit bloodless, they're also full of charm and a kind of self-reflexive beauty. But Motor Minder, by the quartet, the breath- taking trio playing by Lage, Béla Fleck (banjo) and Chris Thile (mandolin), and the duos, Tour One and All Blues, with Taylor Eigsti (piano), offer perhaps the most red meat on a delicately flavoured dish. www.emarcy.com RAY COMISKEY
ZOOT SIMS-KENNY DREW
Complete Live Recordings (2 CDs) Gambit ****
Before Sims made his final visit to Ireland to play at Kilkenny Arts Week in August 1978, he had already recorded live in Denmark with pianist Kenny Drew, Niels- Henning Ørsted Pedersen (bass) and Ed Thigpen or Alex Riel (drums). It was a good time for the great tenor and soprano saxophonist, and these Danish dates reflect the brillianceso consistently associated with Sims throughout his long career. Frustratingly for his fans, the material has often been reissued piecemeal, usually with part duplication of performances. This latest reissue finally clears up the position and covers everything recorded by the group. The sound quality, already good by the standards of live recordings at the time, has also been further improved by the remastering. The results have an immediacy that none of the previous reissues has equalled. RAY COMISKEY
