Andrew Gould: First Things First

Free-wheeling and forward-thinking, young, native-New Yorker and one-time performer at the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, Andrew Gould makes his living on alto and soprano sax, but he blows wild like many a tenor-man before him, including his inspirations Joe Henderson and John Coltrane.

On First Things First, his broad and confident debut, high-wattage rules the day. The fiery opener, "The Goulden Ratio," seven minutes of sheer bop exhilaration, finds Gould and his companions, keyboardist Steven Feifke, bassist Marco Panascia, and drummer Jake Goldbas starting from the height of their powers and never letting up. A seriously-fierce Panascia bass line propels the serpentine sass of "Cool Off" into a furious all-out jam that does anything but what its title implies. "R Train" is a juke-jumpin,' r'n'b, stew that only a barely-contained New York quartet could concoct. "Mumbo Jumbo" is a brisk, hot-house hell-raiser that finds Gould stratosphere-bound with guest trumpeter Scott Wenhdholt at his side and Feifke's left hand working overtime. Ahhh, the jazz sounds of New York City. You just can't beat 'em.