Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Marco Eneidi/William Parker/Donald Robinson: Cherry Box

206

Marco Eneidi/William Parker/Donald Robinson: Cherry Box

By

View read count
Marco Eneidi/William Parker/Donald Robinson: Cherry Box
Listening to the 1998 recording Cherry Box is akin to spending an hour in dedicated meditation. After the intensity of the primary experience fades away, one finds oneself awash in spiritual calm. The trio of Eneidi, Parker, and Robinson use their shared experience to their advantage, ensuring coherence and cohesion. But spirituality is their main stock in trade.

Cherry Box pays open tribute to the spiritual music of Coltrane's small groups. In both the unpretentious intensity of the saxophone improvisations and the emphatic cardiac throb of the bass, this disc projects melodic energy. To offer a recent point of comparison, Cherry Box bears notable similarity to the '93 FMP Gayle/Parker/Ali record Touchin on Trane, though it makes more ample use of space, color, and melodic restraint. Alto saxophonist Marco Eneidi states deliberately simple themes, then subjects them to spirited reinterpretation using the full timbral spectrum of his instrument (including overtones and rapid-fire note flurries, as well as more relaxed passages with a bluesy sound). Even during moments of peak density, Eneidi's improvisations remain grounded. Of course, the presence of bassist William Parker does a great deal to anchor Cherry Box. Parker offers an intuitive combination of ostinato pulse, urgent walking basslines, and melodic complement. As usual, he plays an essential role uniting the group. (Astute listeners will note Parker's similar role on Gayle's landmark '93 FMP record.)

One of the most exciting aspects of this group is the remarkably versatile drumming of Donald Robinson. Robinson, a longtime Spearman associate, covers the range from "color percussion" through swing accents. While he shuns the center stage, his presence often spurs the other players to a higher level. It's worth taking a moment now and then to focus on Robinson's playing in isolation. At times he might play offbeat accents or shape his delivery around the other two players' statements, but he also devotes much of his effort to building multilayer polyrhythmic textures. This level of detail helps make Cherry Box a resounding success. I for one have not heard a stronger record from out of the post-Coltrane continuum in a long time.

Track Listing

Cherry Box; Slashing the Bird; Forget It; Barbequed Brahms; One More Thing; Spank.

Personnel

Marco Eneidi
saxophone

Marco Eneidi: alto saxophone; William Parker: bass; Donald Robinson: drums.

Album information

Title: Cherry Box | Year Released: 2001 | Record Label: Eremite Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.