Bassist and composer Gregg August takes his experience in Latin music and fuses it with hot modern jazz to produce this meaty collection of original music in sextet trim. August, pianist Luis Perdomo, and drummer E.J. Strickland combine for a formidable rhythm section, backing a three-horn front line consisting of saxophonists Yosvany Terry and Myron Walden and trumpeter John Bailey, at times omitting Terry for Steve Dillard, and in one case expanding to a septet with bass clarinetist Mike Lowenstern. This music is quite progressive and daring -- episodic as liner notes writer Jim Macnie observes -- using a demanding, extensively arranged, and precisely played series of charts, challenging for the musicians and the astute listener. It's impressive on many levels, and deserves more than one sitting. Using a wild unharnessed 6/8 rhythm on "Hand to Mouth" or dense 5/4 on "Nastissimo," the music flows with an upbeat powerful kineticism that is hard to deny. "Sixth Finger" starts bluesy but then is supercharged and injected with frenetic hard bop, while a spiky bop stance informs "Change of Course." Latin spice comes to the surface on the frenetic "Modal Tune" driven by the leader's bass, while the breezy "Cascading" and laid-back "One for Louis" shows a softer side, the latter piece a bit slanted harmonically in a somewhat measured manner à la Wynton Marsalis. Bailey is one of the true unsung heroes in contemporary jazz, as his chops, facility, and inventiveness are second to none. Terry and Walden work quite well as a team, and Perdomo is consistently out of sight, his startling piano offerings always greatly enhancing the proceedings. An exceptional example of completely original modern jazz, with nothing straight-laced and very little derived from sources or influences, August has a tiger by the tail on his effort, which comes highly recommended.
© Michael G. Nastos /TiVo