Label: Sunnyside Records, 2022
Personnel - Mike Holober: piano; Dick Oatts: alto and soprano saxophone, flute; Jason Rigby: tenor saxophone, clarinets; Marvin Stamm: trumpet, flugelhorn; Mark Patterson: trombone; Jamile: vocals; Mike McGuirk: bass; Dennis Mackrel: drums.
The New York-based pianist, composer and arranger Mike Holober structured a 14-part song-cycle that explores the nuances and complexities of hope in the current social, political and environmental realities of our times. His new double album, Don’t Let Go, was recorded live at Harlem’s Aaron Davis Hall (located on the campus of The City College of New York), and features his eight-piece constellation Balancing Act, which comprises an untouchable four-horn frontline (with saxophonists Dick Oatts and Jason Rigby, trumpeter Marvin Stamm, and trombonist Mark Patterson), fresh vocals (by Jamile) and a renewed rhythm section of piano, bass and drums (Holober, Mike McGuirk and Dennis Mackrel, respectively).
Holober appears in the driving seat of the opening piece, “Breathe Deep”, operating under his own steam while knitting together jazz and classical idioms. This solo aperture leads directly to “Morning Hope”, a ear-catching song with affirmative lyrics and fine solos from bass and trumpet. Brazilian singer Jamile is particularly outstanding on the latter, but her versatility is also brought into “I Wonder”, a go-ahead rockish number where she balances technical accuracy with melodic puissance, as well as into the groovy and polyrhythmic “Necessary”, in which she adopts a staccato-style redolent of Dee Dee Bridgewater. In this last-mentioned piece, one also spots an inspired tenor on the run followed by trombone within reach.
The straight-to-the-gut “Kiss the Ground” is tastefully mounted at a medium-fast tempo, with Oatts carving his way on the soprano with a diffuse language that covers a wide swath of Coltranean spells. There's also Mackrel, who shows his facility around the kit through an expansive drum solo. In turn, the mellower “Four-Letter Words” is spiffed up by Rigby’s mesmeric chromatic moves as part of his deft tenor runs. He and Oatts shine on “Touch the Sky”, a rapturous post-bop fantasy soaked in tradition, which also brings the conversational abilities of Holober and Stamm to a closer communication.
The latter piece is one of the most exciting of the album, but if you fancy softer moods, then the gentle waltz “Smile Slow” and the bossa nova empathy of “Letting Go” are there to make your day. This is an interesting and consolidated return of Holober’s Balancing Act.
Favorite Tracks:
04 - Kiss the Ground ► 07 - Necessary ► 13 - Touch the Sky