Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Chris Greene: PlaySCAPE

2

Chris Greene: PlaySCAPE

Chris Greene: PlaySCAPE
Saxophonist Chris Greene's twelfth recording is a solid hard bop affair, an appointed EP, that begins intensely and never gives up. The angular, "Blues for Dr. Fear" kicks things off, funky and sharp-edged. Greene plays as much Michael Brecker as Hank Mobley squeezing every bit of grease from this extralean music. "Thunder Snow" is mid-1960s Joe Henderson swing, Greene jousting with drummer Steve Corley. Things descend (or ascend, if you will) to the realm of John Coltrane's classic quartet. And was that a Dexter Gordon tone?

"Clean and Clear" is ruminative and thoughtful, smokey and humid. Greene's soprano saxophone, almost Middle Eastern over the impressionist chords fed him by pianist Damien Espinosa. Greene explores the piece at length, parlaying one creative idea into the next. Espinosa and bassist Marc Paine are afforded equal time, which they spend well with their own explorations. the lengthiest piece, "3 & 6" begins with the bass, pizzicato, strolling around a central figure not unlike "A Love Supreme" but much more balladic with an intense bottom of gospel. Greene closes with Wayne Shorter's "Speak No Evil," given an intense Latin-Islands vibe that closes the disc on a positive note. Keeper of the Flame, Greene is to be cherished.

Track Listing

Blues for Dr. Fear; Thunder Snow; Clean and Clear; Three & Six; The Crossover Appeal (Uno Mas); Speak No Evil.

Personnel

Chris Greene
saxophone

Chris Greene: saxophones; Damian Espinosa: piano & keyboards; Marc Piane: basses; Steve Corley: drums & percussion; Marqueal Jordan: alto saxophone (5).

Album information

Title: PlaySCAPE | Year Released: 2019 | Record Label: Self Produced

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.