"Gargonzi", "Berzone" call em whatcha like, the tenor sax duo of George Garzone and Jerry Bergonzi from "Beantown" (Boston, Mass) quite excite on this 2014 disc. This CD appears to have been sponsored by the Danish Music Publishers Society and features a more than able rhythm section of pianist Carl Winther (who not only produced the date but penned four of the tracks) Johnny Åman on bass, and Anders Mogensen on drums. The front line hornmen sport an "obbledeygobbeldy" manneristic which refers to a post-Coltrane technique (also developed by Dave Liebman, Steve Grossman, Bill Evans,et al) which involves a pumping off of the lower notes in order to get a ricochet-like effect escalating vertically to higher registers of the horn. Mind you this might be an anorakian pursuit of interest for saxophonists, but it is difficult to pull off and does have a distinctive and rather emotional, fiery edge to it. It sits well with both Garz and Gonz possessing dark and somewhat hollow, echoey tonal qualities which offer a refreshing contrast to the plethora of brighter, shimmery and brittle sounds that so many contemporary saxists have today. Winther's "Crystal Ball" has a gentle medium bluesy groove with a pensive and moody horn line that leads to heroic solos all round. Bergonzi contributed two pieces, the melodic "Idiosyncrasies" and the brisk 12 bar burner, "Ellwood" which offset Winther's repertoire nicely. Everything is well controlled throughout with squeaks, squeals and even the odd honk. Quality stuff indeed. ~ by Frank Griffith, JazzViews.net.
Stunt Records, STUCD 14072, 2014
Recorded July, 2013 in
Boston, Massachusetts
Musicians:
George Garzone - Tenor
Saxophone
Jerry Bergonzi - Tenor
Saxophone
Carl Winther - Piano
Johnny Åman - Bass
Anders Mogensen - Drums
Tracks:
1. Gargonzola {Carl Winther}
(4:54)
2. Crystal Ball {Carl
Winther} (7:40)
3. Idiosyncrasies {Jerry
Bergonzi} (6:28)
4. Restless {Tomas Franck}
(5:49)
5. Ellwood {Jerry Bergonzi}
(7:46)
6. Abeid From Zanzibar {Carl
Winther, Jerry Bergonzi} (6:07)
7. The Gargoyle Returns {Carl
Winther} (5:37)
Total Time: 44:26
Producer - Carl Winther
