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William Gagliardi Quintet: Hear and Now
ByFortunately his casual disposition has sharpened recently and yielded a small handful of dates. This disc presents the second half of single session at CIMP’s Spirit Room from summer of last year. The first part was released earlier this year as NHLAHLA and pulled in praise from a cross-section of critics. Happily this set is just as strong and features seven more originals from the Gagliardi quill brought to life by his regular working quintet. The same off the cuff humor is also present in various tune titles such as the playfully cringe-worthy “Wu Wei Baby.”
Gagliardi wears his love of Trane hung proudly and prominently from the bells of his horns, blowing in a robust vernacular that references the saxophone doyen without paying lip service. As if in answer to his own query “Where is Trane,” a track the holds true the spirit if thankfully not the letter of the legacy, he seems to pointing in a definitive direction. “Soul Ain’t Got No Bones” sounds like a sheaf from the Ornette songbook, with a twisting piebald head that opens up into a jogging bass-driven rhythm ripe and accommodating for solos. Carlson takes first honors, loosing a peppery spray of notes that soon defers to Gagliardi’s tenor. The latter balances bulging muscle with a steady and tempered style of phrasing. Hofstra keeps up a knuckle-cracking pace on his strings tugging out a bulbous ostinato, but Grassi is surprisingly laidback, accenting instead of pushing with his sticks. He adopts an equally judicious stance on “Forgettaboutit,” a tune rich in hard bop trappings that opens up to yield plenty of solo space. The verbal grunts of encouragement captured along with the music by the microphones add to the ambiance of a genial jam session.
Wessel assumes center stage (or living room carpet as it were) on “Surfin’ the Tigrus,” constructing a long-form statement across a rolling wave motion backdrop churned up by Hofstra and Grassi. His teardrop single note lines and gentlely shimmering volume effects keep the tune’s tonal center in flux. Gagliardi’s keening soprano adds to the Old World Arabic flavor. “Exhaltation” arrives as an energizing last call and the five men take things out on a suitably high note—you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here. Here’s hoping that Gagliardi’s corner creative music speakeasy is open again soon for business.
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Track Listing
Soul Ain
Personnel
William Gagliardi- tenor & soprano saxophones; John Carlson- trumpet; Ken Wessel- guitar; Dave Hofstra- bass; Lou Grassi- drums. Recorded: July 7 & 8, 2003, Rossie, NY.
Album information
Title: Hear and Now | Year Released: 2004 | Record Label: CIMP Records
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