nate radley quartet at cornelia st. cafe - nyc, nov 6

• photography by Clara Pereira / text by Filipe Freitas

In support of his debut CD, ‘Morphoses’, the genuine guitarist, Nate Radley, brought a different quartet to Cornelia Street Cafe.

The attendants had the opportunity to listen to the classy lyricism of the saxophonist Chris Cheek, the relentlessly pulsing sound of the bassist Gary Wang, and the lucidity of the drummer Mark Ferber. They effortlessly replaced Loren Stillman, Matt Pavolka, and Ted Poor, respectively.

Very generous without losing predominance in the whole, Radley wanders along rustic sceneries with an attractive jazz that shows to be deeply anchored in the American country-rock tradition. His versatility is discernible in the way he approaches his originals – for instance, a totally different modus operandi was used in Kris Davis’ Infrasound’s ‘Save Your Breath’. 
Melodic sensitivity and rhythmic assertiveness were two keywords associated with this performance, which in my opinion sounded as stylish as the CD.