Don Byron: Romance With The Unseen (Blue Note)
Clarinettist and composer Byron is an iconclastic musical chameleon whose work embraces such a bewildering range of styles and idioms - klezmer, classical, jazz (both "inside" and "outside") - that it's impossible to guess what he might do next. Iconoclasm, however, needs knowledge, especially of roots, which he has in abundance. But with long-time colleagues Bill Frisell (guitar) and Jack DeJohnette (drums) and the grounded bass of Drew Gress around, this is no easy romp over familiar territory. Superbly supported by DeJohnette, Byron spins a series of solos that rely for impact more on their logic and originality of line than on tone and, with Frisell generally matching the restrained, lyrical mood, this is a thoughtful, if sometimes too considered, example of Byron in straight-ahead mode.
- Ray Comiskey
Martin Drew: Got A Match? (Jazzizit)
More overtly straight ahead is Martin Drew's tribute to the late Ronnie Scott. Playing the kind of no-holds-barred, unsentimental small group jazz Scott loved, his former drummer leads an accomplished quartet through a programme of standards (Romberg, Rodgers, Porter, Carmichael) and jazz originals (Monk, Corea, Cables, and the group's pianist, Gareth Williams). There are no surprises here; just a high-calibre blowing session from a tight quartet who know what they're about. Tenor Mornington Lockett, a virtuosic amalgam of Coltrane and Johnny Griffin, is in the best form I've heard from him in years and Williams is a swinging player with a definite personality. Like Scott, the quartet favours faster tempi, so there's only one ballad performance, an effective reading of The Nearness Of You.
- Ray Comiskey