Some New Stuff

I got a couple of new CDs in the mail yesterday: While the Gate is Open, by Gary Thomas, and No Room for Argument by Wallace Roney.  Both are quite good.  

I am playing 'Strode Road' and 'Star Eyes' from the first, with Thomas on tenor sax, Dave Holland on bass, Renee Rosnes on piano, Kevin Eubanks on guitar, and Dennis Chambers on drums.  This disc exemplifies one of my favorite formulas in jazz: standard melodies played with an almost avant garde sentiment.  The tenor is well tempered and authentic.  I especially enjoyed Rosnes' solo on 'Star Eyes'.  

I am playing 'Homage & Acknowledgement (Love Supreme/Filles De Kilimanjaro)' from the second disc.  This is a somewhat impressionistic collage, with voices woven into much of the music.  You can get the lineup from All Music.  If you like a hot trumpet spread across hard bop and avant garde, with a lot of political sensibility painted in around the edges, this one is for you.  The disc is available from Amazon for an absurdly low price.