John Tank Quartet: Canadian Sunset

Canadian John Tank is one of the leading members of that school of jazz musicians who can play progressive jazz in such a way to make it impossible to understand and follow the group's musical intentions. The quartet doesn't assail the ears with harmonies and assorted noises that annoy rather than pleasure. He and the imperturbable members of his quartet ride the rails with a hard swinging, post bop tinged delivery of a Peter Madsen composition, "Talk to the Hand" where for more than eight minutes, they squeeze everything this tune has to give. The musical tone shifts to a lovely original ballad by Tank, "Have You Heard This Song Before". This lovely piece of music provides an opportunity for Tank to take a long, introspective, impressionistic solo tenor sax solo which shows the influences of those modern tenors who have gone before him, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins and Joe Henderson with a dollop of Stan Getz added for melodic inflection. His work has also been influenced from his days with Charles Mingus Victor Herbert's "Indian Summer" is a vehicle for Tank ‘s improvisional skills that give this warhorse a life renewing transfusion. No matter what the tempo, this group never strays far from an intelligent, accommodating approach to whatever they're playing. With rich harmonic overtones, they leave the listener not necessarily exhilarated or excited, but certainly at ease and fulfilled. Highly recommended.