Four on four…
Vasilis Xenopoulos plays tenor sax, soprano sax and flute as he teams with pianist Paul Edis and mates Adam King/b with J oel Barford/dr. Xenopoulos’ tenor is warm and palpable, swinging easy on “Going Homeand boppoing with Barford on “Get Off My Lawn”. Edis’ piano gets Tynerish on the modal “Lockdown London” with some hard triplets from Barford” whiel giving a lyrical intro to “Memories of Home” before King hits the spotlight” A rich flute on “Mikey’s Samba” displays the slick pulse of the rhythm team. No strangers in the home of Xenopoulos.
Marcus Miller’s soprano, Irwin Hall’s alto, Anthony Ware’s tenor and Max Scheiger’s baritone make up the sax quartet arranged by Radam Schwartz on this textured joy. Schweiger is featured on the rich “Sway in Rincon” and the lower registers keep a hp rhythm for Miller on “Let’s Hear It For The Boy”. The team bops on the California Cool “Validation” and Carrie Jackson adds some rich voice to the velvety “Hand/With These Hands”. Some extra percussion percolates on “As Lon As You’re Remembered” and Mille’s aria is elegant on “My Ship”. Velvet overground.
Pianist Kerry Politzer brings together Tim Willcox/ts-ss, Garrett Baxter/b and George Colligan/dr for a collection of fresh originals. Politzer’s touch is melodic on the pretty “Letting Go” and she shows her bop chops on ”A Breeze Comes”, with Willcox’s tenor digging in on “Ruminations”. The team digs a nice groove for Willcox’s soprano on “”Faraway Dreams” and the team gets cozy on “Lazy”, while featuring Colligan on the strutting “Cudgel”. Team effort.