| Note: The following is a 1981 review from a very hip but now defunct audiophile Magazine - Modern Recording and Music of the LP Ready for the 90's , one of two lps that This Way Is West was re-issued from. |
CHICO FREEMAN / MARTY KRYSTALL / BUELL NEIDLINGER
NEW JAZZ MASTERS
| This Way Is West Reviews
By Nat Hentoff At 31, Chico Freeman-tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, and other reeds-has emerged as one of the unmistakeable classic horns among the new jazz generation. Moreover, as Amiri Baraka emphasizes in the notes to Chico's current release, The Outside Within (India Navigation), Freeman, unlike some of his contemporaries, "has found a way to be clearly meIodic and musically swinging, yet searching, daring and experimental." He goes inside and outside the chords; he can so shout that he seems to be speaking in tongues and yet he can also get subtly, sensuously inside a ballad in a way that mesmerizes both those unfamiliar with jazz and the cognoscenti. All these qualities are powerfully evident in The Outside Within in such pervasively riveting pieces as "Undercurrent," "The Search," "Luna," and "Ascent." Each one charts fresh terrain while remaining rooted in the entire continuum of jazz (for Chico has deeply knowledgeable roots). Brilliantly complementing his penetratingly authoritative sound and time are drummer Jack DeJohnette, bassist Cecil McBee, and pianist John Hicks who creates here some of his most inventive work on record. The recorded sound sets a new standard for India Navigation, and ought to be heard by other engineers as well. The wide, vivid, thrusting range of Chico's horns and the explosive density of the rhythm section are fully caught in all their fire and glory. Much less known, as yet, than Freeman is Marty Krystall, a Los Angeles based tenor saxophonist who has strong backgrounds in both jazz and classical music (he has toured, for example with Peter Serkin's Tashi, a chamber ensemble). But Krystall is no "third stream" fisher in both waters when he plays jazz. In Ready for the 90's (K2B2 Records), Krystall's tenor is wholly, exhilaratingly, leapingly immersed in what could be called postmodern jazz. His sound is roomfilling, capable of an extraordinary gamut of colors. And his command of rhythm, layer upon layer of rhythm, is continually, authentically exciting. Like Chico Freeman, Krystall is so clear in everything he conceives and executes that, as far out as he goes, he never loses you. This has also long been the case with co-leader Buell Neidlinger. It might seem odd to call Neidlinger a "new master" in view of his remarkable career in jazz (Johnny Hodges, Cecil Taylor, Billie Holiday, Zoot Sims, et al.). But the prowess of this singular bassist and musical thinker is only just beginning to become recognized. Also strikingly present are trumpeter Warren Gale, drummer Billy Higgins; and on one 1961 track, Cecil Taylor. The engineering is excellent. As on the Chico Freeman session, the broad scope of dynamics and the continually changing textures are all present, in rightful place. CHICO FREEMAN: The Outside Within. [Bob Cummins, producer, David Baker, engineer.] India Navigation IN 1042. MARTY KRYSTALL, BUELL NEIDLINGER: Ready for the 90's. [Marty Krystall and Buell Neidlinger, producers, no information on the engineer.] K2B2 Records 2069. (Distributed by North Country Distributors - Redwood N.Y. 13679.) |
