Finland's premier saxophonist
Koivistoinen ventured to New York City for this CD and employed some of the finest jazz players, including trombonist
Conrad Herwig, trumpeter
Randy Brecker, pianist
David Kikoski, bassist
Ron McClure, drummer
Jack DeJohnette, and guitarist
John Scofield (on four cuts).
Bugge Wesseltoft plays rather innocent, unobtrusive sythesizer on three other pieces. The horn charts are smartly arranged by the tenor and soprano saxophonist, and played to perfection. The music is contemporary, bop-based, modernistic, and well-swung by DeJohnette's personalized chatty signature rhythms. At their hippest and most basic, the band grooves on "Everblue," one of eight tracks Koivistionen penned. Brecker, Herwig, and
Eero's tenor are united in a
Horace Silver-type head nod. The easier swing of "Magreb" has a different Euro-soul, an ultra bright chart based on Kikoski pedal point piano. A similar vehicle from Kikoski informs
Seppo Kantonen's "Kabuki," another cool chart with Scofield's electric guitar darting and searching for prismatic colors. McClure's piece "Inspiration" is a good swinger with tenor, trumpet, and trombone debating in point-counterpoint one-upmanship fashion. "Van Gogh" is a tenor-led tango with pining background horns, while the seascape beauty of "Clear Dream" -- with soprano and piano only -- gives a lush hint at the leader's soft side.
Koivistoinen displays a nice combination of
Wayne Shorter's harmonic sense and
Michael Brecker's lyricism. This is highly recommended. ~ Michael G. Nastos