Label: Sunnyside Records, 2021

Personnel - Hank Roberts: cello; Dana Lyn: violin; Brian Drye: trombone; Mike McGinnis: clarinet, soprano saxophone; Jacob sacks: piano; Vinnie Sperrazza: drums.

The distinguished cellist Hank Roberts, who marked the New York Downtown music scene with his artistically refined sound, makes a great return with Science of Love, an enjoyable body of work inspired by droves and featuring a multi-generational sextet of New York talents.

There are two freestanding pieces bookending the central 14-track suite titled “G”, namely, the opener “Sat/Sun Pa Tu X”, an expansion of the “Saturday/Sunday” suite from his 1993 album Little Motor People, and “205”, which closes out the album in a reflective and very much accessible chamber-pop mode. The former, however, is the one that causes more impact with an insouciant, vibrant swing that pulses through the group’s bloodstream. Pianist Jacob Sacks enters at a later time, but soon takes the lead, exposing a playfully articulated vocabulary. Then, it’s Roberts and violinist Dana Lyn who partner with the trombonist Brian Drye and the clarinetist Mike McGinnis, crisscrossing the rhythmic tapestry with elation, and creating a mood that recalls Charles Mingus. A clarinet solo paints a more sobering backdrop before taking us to the final cello musings.

The aforementioned suite is assembled with thematic-related frameworks that favor improvisation and creativity. One finds a generous dose of rock in Vinnie Sperrazza’s drumming on “G: The Sharp Peak of the Science of Love” as well as an allegro quality in the cello slogans. The charmer “G: Earth Sky Realms” is a beautifully brushed piece with pendular piano ostinatos and violin cries contributing to the subtle wistfulness that surrounds it.

The percussive and plucking techniques of “G: D23” invites us to imagine distant worlds, as it works toward a solid classical density. In turn, the more-invigorated “G: GLC Magnetic Floating Stripper” features McGinnis in a pungent flight of fancy on soprano over a 3/4 rhythmic flux. The three time feel is maintained on “G: 17” but things are softened up considerably here, just to ramp up again on “G: B45 L”, the longest track on the album at 12:44, which unfurls with Drye in the spotlight. This is before he starts a conversation with Roberts that culminates in a rhythmic dance with all members in it. The cellist puts on show a magnificent monologue before a mercurial final stage that involves a grooving passage, collective interplay and a propulsive backbeat.

Roberts will easily hook listeners with the tasteful blend of jazz, classical and improvisation that permeates his album.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Sat/Sun Pa Tu X ► 06 - G: Earth Sky Realms ► 12 - G: GLC Magnetic Floating Stripper

Label: Panoramic/New Focus Recordings, 2018

Personnel - Ken Thomson: alto saxophone, clarinet; Anna Webber: tenor saxophone; Russ Johnson: trumpet; Alan Ferber: trombone; Adam Armstrong: bass; Daniel Dor: drums.

Alto saxophonist/clarinetist Ken Thomson, a reputable member of New York’s Bang on a Can All-Stars and Asphalt Orchestra, squeezes excellent ideas into Sextet, an album that often swirls post-bop with classical elements. He plays alongside a wonderful set of horn players that includes tenorist Anna Webber, trumpeter Russ Johnson, and trombonist Alan Ferber, and a rhythm section that glues everything together with Adam Armstrong on bass and Daniel Dor on drums.

Dominated by rich polyphony, Gyorgy Ligeti’s “Pasacaglia Ungherese” opens the recording in the classical fashion. The wide tonal range leans on melancholy here, contrasting with “Mysery In The New Hope”, in which drums and bass hold together to set a hasty, urban pace enlivened by relentless rhythmic accents in an unquiet contrapuntal activity. After the bandleader’s solo, mostly shaped within the boundaries of the implicit harmony, Johnson promotes dynamism in the call-response communication established between him and elements of the horn squad.

On the vibrant “Icebreaker”, the horn section explores labyrinthine melodic paths, evincing the same affinity for rhythmic punctuation as its precedent piece. The flow becomes swingingly Latinized, accommodating Ferber’s wise lines, and the finale brings an exciting dialogue of saxophones to the table.

The swinging vibration continues with rhythmic crosscurrents and phrasal juxtaposition on “Phantom Vibration Syndrome”, an embroidering jazz fantasy meandered by a perpetual confluence of accents and patterns. This energetic current is discontinued for a minute by a musing unison passage that occurs after Thomson’s pronouncement.

At first, “Resolve” depicts tranquil landscapes with chamber classical poise, but then veers into deep solemnity just before Dor's jubilant percussive sparks take us to avant-garde vicinities. That’s when Webber shines by delivering a sturdy solo that also breathes conveniently whenever necessary. She leads the way to the motivic and synergistic section that concludes the piece.

If the placidity of “Helpless” lives from a set of loopy lines that induce a sensation of curtains in perpetual movement, “Turn Around” bristles with flawless interplay in an animated collective dance impregnated with jazz punch.

Thomson guides the crew with a firm pulse and sheer ambition, assuring that the arrangements hybridize genres with a personal musical stylization and influential narrative force. Sextet is a solid effort.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - Misery in the New Hope ► 04 - Resolve ► 07 - Phantom Vibration Syndrome