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ALBUM REVIEWS February 12, 2010

Erica Lindsay and Sumi Tonooka: Initiation

Read "Initiation" reviewed by Woodrow Wilkins

Tenor saxophonist Erica Lindsay and pianist Sumi Tonooka began working together at a jazz club in Albany, New York. Their combined creativity brings something out in each other, leading them to Initiations. Lindsay and Tonooka have been playing together since 1994, but Initiations is their first studio collaboration. They're accompanied by bassist Rufus Reid and drummer Bob Braye, who sadly died after the session. The lively, lounge jazz “Mari" opens the set, featuring some ...

ALBUM REVIEWS February 5, 2010

Erica Lindsay / Sumi Tonooka: Initiation

By Raul d'Gama Rose

The naked emotion of Initiation can be so heartfelt at times that the urge to block out all external sound and focus solely on the music that issues out of the speakers is often overwhelming. Tenor saxophonist Erica Lindsay and pianist Sumi Tonooka have made a journey here that has taken them right to the center of their respective beings with some truly soul-searching music. Fortuitously they have been doubly blessed on this outing by one of the most erudite ...

ALBUM REVIEWS January 23, 2010

Erica Lindsay / Sumi Tonooka: Initiation

By Jakob Baekgaard

While the discography of saxophonist Erica Lindsay is yet relatively modest, she still plays with the knowledge and authority of a seasoned musician. Initiation sees her teaming up with an old acquaintance, pianist Sumi Tonooka, and together they make a profoundly swinging and poetic music whose life-affirming quality it is hard to deny. “Mari" immediately grabs the attention, setting forth some infectious rhythms, courtesy of the late drummer Bob Braye and preeminent bassist Rufus Reid. While Braye ...

ALBUM REVIEWS January 11, 2010

Erica Lindsay / Sumi Tonooka: Initiation

By Dan McClenaghan

Pianist Sumi Tonooka and tenor saxophonist Erica Lindsay are the leaders on Initiation, having contributed five compositions each. It's the chemistry and the collective organic spontaneity of the whole quartet, however, that moves the sound into the level of top-tier excellence. Bassist Rufus Reid constructs solid, big-sound foundations, and drummer Bob Braye --who, sadly, passed away after this recording was made --bustles and tromps with a fierce percussive fire on the up-tempo tunes and whispers with a fine finesse on ...