Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Rocco John: Don't Wait Too Long...

143

Rocco John: Don't Wait Too Long...

By

View read count
Rocco John: Don't Wait Too Long...
So much of the jazz on CDs these days sounds so much the same, so that when a disc such as this one is released, on which the music clearly speaks with its own voice, one must take notice.

Saxophonist Rocco John has studied with Sam Rivers and Lee Konitz and his distinctly apparent ability to both compose and improvise in the jazz idiom clearly reflects the lessons learned from these masters. On Don't Wait Too Long..., the altoist adds young trumpeter Mike Irwin (who has been playing with the group during the past since 2006) to his longstanding trio of a decade—Aaron Keane on bass and Dalius Naujokaitis on drums and percussion. The piano-less quartet, while following in the free blowing spirit of Ornette Coleman, also demonstrates a strong connection to the music of the bebop era and beyond.

The compositions on the date, all of them the leader's (but enhanced greatly by each sideman's personal statements), have a narrative quality that adds to the character of the entire CD, with each track behaving like a chapter in a novel; an attribute underlined by the opening "Overture and closing "Finale —different takes on the same theme that dramatically use space to create tension and release in a manner similar to Eric Dolphy's Out To Lunch and Jackie McLean's One Step Beyond.

While John's thick tone and angular improvisations display an indebtedness to the above two alto saxophonists, he leaves no room to doubt that he is his own man. Irwin's sound and solos seem to reflect a lineage developed from early Miles and Kenny Dorham and on freer passages a (perhaps unintentional) link to Don Cherry and Bill Dixon. All in all, there is more harmonic beauty and swinging pulse to the date than in most outside albums and a greater number of surprising moments than on a typical mainstream disc. Recommended.

Track Listing

Overture; Gentilesse; Indigo Joe; Leticia; Ming's Things; Bicycle for Two; Don't Wait Too Long; Cursory Rhyme; Finale.

Personnel

Rocco John: alto sax; Michael Irwin: trumpet; Aaron Keane: bass; Dalius Naujokaitis: drums.

Album information

Title: Don't Wait Too Long... | Year Released: 2007 | Record Label: Coca

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.

Near

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.