Ravi Coltrane - Spirit Fiction (2012)

A career on the saxophone with one of the most freethinking saxophonists in music history for a father has to be a tough call. Now 46, Ravi Coltrane, son of John, has often chosen to be a sympathetic sideman rather than the boss. But his Blue Note Records debut as a leader feels like a giant step. The tracks are split between two groups (a quartet with Luis Perdomo on piano, and a superb quintet with Geri Allen at the keys, and Ralph Alessi on trumpet), playing an arrestingly original postbop repertoire, plus covers of pieces by Ornette Coleman and Paul Motian. There are delicate improv conversations between Coltrane and Alessi, passages in which Geri Allen and drummer Eric Harland uncannily recall the sound of the young Herbie Hancock and Tony Williams in the Miles Davis quintet, quiet tone-bending sax ruminations and a deliciously ramshackle version of Ornette Coleman's Check Out Time. It genuinely sounds like a coming-of-age for Ravi Coltrane. ~ John Fordham, The Guardian. 

Blue Note Records, 509999 18937 2 7, 2012
Recorded (#1,3,4,7,11) at Bennett's Studios, Englewood, New Jersey
Recorded (#2,5,8,9,10) at Sear Sound, New York City
Recorded (#6) at Systems Two Recording, Brooklyn, New York 

Musicians:
Ravi Coltrane - Tenor & Soprano Saxes
Joe Lovano - Tenor Sax (#9,10)
Luis Perdomo - Piano (#1,3,4,7,11)
Drew Gress - Bass (#1,3,4,7,11)
E.J. Strickland - Drums (#1,3,4,6,7,11)
Ralph Alessi - Trumpet (#2,5,8,9)
Geri Allen - Piano (#2,5,8-10)
James Genus - Bass (#2,5,8,9)
Eric Harland - Drums (#2,5,8,9)

Tracks:
01. Roads Cross {Gress, Strickland, Perdomo, Coltrane} (5:04)
02. Klepto {Ralph Alessi} (7:30)
03. Spirit Fiction {Gress, Strickland, Perdomo, Coltrane} (52:28)
04. The Change, My Girl {Ravi Coltrane} (6:46)
05. Who Wants Ice Cream {Ralph Alessi} (6:32)
06. Spring & Hudson {Ravi Coltrane} (2:21)
07. Cross Roads {Gress, Strickland, Perdomo, Coltrane} (5 (4:03)
08. Yellow Cat {Ralph Alessi} (6:50)
09. Check Out Time {Ornette Coleman} (7:26)
10. Fantasm {Paul Motian} (4:08)
11. Marilyn & Tammy {Ravi Coltrane} (5:42) 

Total Time: 58:57 

Credits:
Producer, Mixing - Ravi Coltrane
Producer, Mixing, Liner Notes - Joe Lovano
Executive-Producer - Bruce Lundvall
Recording Engineer - Dave Kowalski (#1,3,4,7,11)
Recording & Mixing Engineer - Chris Allen (#2,5,8-10)
Recording Engineer - Joe Marchiano (#6)
Mixing Engineer - Ravi Coltrane, Steve Genewick (#1,3,4,6,7,11)
Mixing Engineer - Joe Lovano (#2,5,8-10)
Mastering Engineer - Allan Tucker
Art Direction, Design - Hayden Miller
Photography - Darlene Devita 

Spirit Fiction

Ed Neumeister Quartet - New Standards (2005)

This self-produced and hard-to-find Austrian release features trombone phenom Ed Neumeister in a rare, intimate setting as leader of a first-class quartet. The American trombonist's classical music background is reflected in his carefully articulated lines and pristine sound, but as with Wynton Marsalis, Neumeister is equally at home playing jazz standards, as he does here with considerable aplomb. Boasting a comfortable three-octave range, the under-recorded Neumeister easily negotiates the changes to his complex "Spring Street," in which he leaps wide intervals with incredible speed, and on the signature Strayhorn tune "Take The "A" Train," on which the trombonist soloed regularly during his time with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. In terms of technique, Neumeister can do it all, from exhibiting expansive range; spectacular agility; trills; and old-time, down-home, gut-wrenching effects with the wah-wah mute, something he displays to excellent effect on Jimmy Rowles' "The Peacocks." At his best, as on the latter tune, the trombonist is one of the finest of his generation, an underrated giant waiting to be discovered. The only drawback is the lack of emotional depth on some of the tunes, in which a consistency in volume detracts from the overall effect. Nonetheless, for much of this recording, the trombonist brings his considerable bag of tricks to the table and leaves the listener largely satisfied, ready for more. His first-rate rhythm section, particularly drummer John Hollenbeck, is a big plus. ~ Steve Loewy, AMG. 

MeisteroMusic, CSM Y0221-C08, 2005
Recorded at Soundborn Studios, Vienna, Austria 

Musicians:
Ed Neumeister - Trombone
Fritz Pauer - Piano
Drew Gress - Double Bass
John Hollenbeck - Drums, Percussion 

Tracks:
1. Take The "A" Train {Billy Strayhorn} (7:22)
2. Picks & Pans {John Scofield} (7:45)
3. Spring Street {Ed Neumeister} (9:49)
4. The Peacocks {Jimmy Rowles} (8:18)
5. A Walk In The Woods {Ed Neumeister} (10:37)
6. Speak Low {Kurt Weill} (7:18) 

Total Time: 51:14 

Credits:
Producer - Ed Neumeister
Recording Engineer - Gerhard Wessely, Fabian Wessely 

Take The "A" Train

Claudio Fasoli Quintet - Brooklyn Option (2015)

Between innovation and tradition, the album The Brooklyn Option marks the debut of the Claudio Fasoli Quintet, a band formed by the Italian saxophonist together with musicians from the New York scene: the trumpeter Ralph Alessi, the pianist Matt Mitchell, the bassist Drew Gress and the drummer Nasheet Waits. The saxophonist returns as his habit to collaborating with internationally renowned musicians in a work born almost by chance as he himself explains to us "I had previously met both Drew Gress and Ralph Alessi in occasional meetings in the context of jazz seminars in Siena and elsewhere. It is evident in the disc precisely this concertation of shared musical ideas where Claudio Fasoli's music from unitary becomes collective, developed in 13 songs having the Brooklyn neighborhood as the thematic center, which however, as Fasoli explains to us "are not a musical description of the places because music can and must above all be enough in itself, it must not describe a landscape but give an emotion" - and continues - "There are titles on the record that remind me of the moments I was on the Brooklyn Bridge, for example rather than in Shore Road and so on ... little flashes of details that thrilled me." But Claudio Fasoli's projects do not stop there, there are others even if they are not yet final "I am very intrigued by a rather chamber trio without drums with double bass and an extremely electronic guitar, I think this is a very interesting possibility. For example, I am curious to add another saxophonist to my trio without double bass, that is, the one with two saxophones, an electric guitar and drums. I also plan to meet Ralph Alessi and Drew Gress to re-propose the American quintet again., the curiosities are almost endless ... " ~ Extract by Paolo Marra, AAJ.  [Translated from Italian] 

Musica Jazz, MJCD 1289, 2015
Abeat Records, ABJZ206, 2019
Recorded 16th & 17th November, 2014 at Artesuono Recording Studio, Cavalicco (UD) Italy 

Musicians:
Claudio Fasoli - Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone
Ralph Alessi - Trumpet
Matt Mitchell - Piano
Drew Gress - Double Bass
Nasheet Waits - Drums 

Tracks:
01. Brooklyn Bridge Part 1 (1:16)
02. Brooklyn Bridge Part 2 (6:52)
03. Brooklyn Bridge Part 3 (1:20)
04. Carroll Gardens (2:44)
05. Bay Parkway (2:56)
06. Bam (5:50)
07. Mapletone (1:25)
08. Boerum Hill (7:18)
09. Neptune Avenue (3:48)
10. 7005 Shore Road (7:39)
11. Avenue M (5:56)
12. Dumbo (7:11)
13. Gowanus (3:47) 

Total Time: 58:06 

Credits:
Producer - Claudio Fasoli, Luca Conti
Sound Engineer - Stefano Amerio 

Brooklyn Bridge, Pt. 2