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Ernesto Cervini: Tetrahedron
ByThe set opens with an arpeggiated progression, played not on guitar but on delay-and-treble-heavy electric bass by Rich Brown, who then switches to an offbeat bass line, inviting the rest of the band to join in on an unexpectedly modern take of the Sigmund Romberg/Oscar Hammerstein II penned "Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise." Guitar and saxophone take the lead on a rhythmically ignited spur through a known tune, guided through unknown territoryof which the melody is revealed only a minute before the end.
Other measures, such as Vince Mendoza's "Angelicus," are able to keep up with the youthful vigor introduced on the opener and express an air of excitement through the lively interplay and melodic duality between guitar and Luis Deniz on alto sax. However, when the group succumbs to its fusion-predilection, the sound of the record tends to grow slightly trivial. Brown-penned "Forward Motion" and Cervini's "Boo Radley" belong to those high- energy fusion-cuts, whose execution is flawless, maybe even exceptional, but a certain sense of redundancy prevails, leaving the listener with the sensation that this has been done before.
On "Stro" the quartet picks up the slack again. Based around playful polyrhythmic exchanges between drums and bass, the choppy tune finds the band at its dynamic peaka high which is extended far into the modernized post-bop take of Bunky Green's "Summit Song." The leader's "The Sneaky Two," written during his period in New York, closes the set on the inventive fusion note it had opened withalive, energetic and slightly offbeat. A fitting finish to a positively curious and fun record. Another great addition to the Cervini discography, whichbetween his Quartet, the Turboprop sextet, the chordless trio Tunetown and a number of other projectsis growing at impressive speed and to remarkable variety, Tetrahedron exposes another sonic environment in which the drummer excels as a musician and a composer.
Track Listing
Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise; Forward Motion; Angelicus; Boo Radley; Stro; Summit Song; Wandering; The Sneaky Two.
Personnel
Album information
Title: Tetrahedron | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: Anzic Records
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