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Pat Mallinger Quartet With Bill Carrothers: Elevate
ByThe set of eleven Mallinger originals opens with "Copacetic." Mallinger blows tart alto sax notes with a Jackie McLean tang. Carrothers tumbles along the keyboard. Bassist Dennis Carroll and drummer George Fludas rollick and roll. It's a six minutes of walking-the-high-wire spontaneity. "Sunshine Rollins" is a gently-rolling ballad, and "Ho-Ho-Kus Blues" hits hard and heavy, like something drummer Art Blakey might have written. A brief intro leads into a Carrothers solo, ten fingers tumbling onto the keyboard. Mallinger is on tenor here, sounding laid back and soulful inside a wonderfully ramshackle band.
The set is one of those one-take, everybody-in-the-same-room affairs. Everybody sounds relaxed, insouciant. The pacing, switching from up-tempo intensity to plaintive, reflective balladry is nicely done. "Double Whammy" features Mallinger laying down a hot burn in front of Carrothers' dense, rolling storm cloud of a backdrop, before the pianist swings, Bemsha style in the beginning, into another rambling, cluster-of-notes, solo.
Elevate rises above the level of excellence of Mallinger's previous offering, Home on Richmond, with Bill Carrothers. It is a lively, top tier mainstreambut it's and on the edge mainstreamjazz outing. Mallinger and Carrothers are a classic teaming.
Track Listing
Copacetic; Sunshine Rollins; Ho-Ho-Kus blues; Singing Praises; No Rolling Rock; Prognosis; Double Whammy; 240 Edith Dr.; Oatmeal Song; Oakdale Avenue; Windtree.
Personnel
Pat Mallinger
saxophonePat Mallinger: alto and tenor saxophones, Chinese Xiao flute; bill Carrother: piano; Dennis Carroll: bass; George Fludas: drums.
Album information
Title: Elevate | Year Released: 2014 | Record Label: Self Produced
Comments
About Pat Mallinger
Instrument: Saxophone
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