Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Dom Minasi: Quick Response

188

Dom Minasi: Quick Response

Dom Minasi: Quick Response
Quick Response is Dom Minasi's latest effort since last year's Time Will Tell, also on CDM Records. Supported by a group of musicians who are no strangers to playing both classic hard bop and avant stuff, Minasi is delivering an album that in a way dwells both in classic and avant-garde territories.

The choice of material encompasses standards such as Cole Porter's "What is This Thing Called Love" and "Softly As in a Morning Sunrise." What is interesting is that these standards are not approached in a classic way like they have been a thousand times before; the musicians take the material as a basis for reinvention and improvisation. From the opening track until the last, one can hear different worlds colliding into one. "Dizzy Lizzy" is actually a tribute to Duke Ellington where Minasi takes the chords of "Take The 'A' Train" and pushes the piece into different territories. (In 2001, Minasi did a tribute album, Takin' The Duke Out, featuring fresh interpretations of classic Ellington compositions, where he paid homage to the great composer.)

"Feels Like Rain in China" features a wonderful sax solo by Mark Whitecage, and Kyle Koehler's organ provides a nice layer of keyboard sounds for the musicians to play atop. There are shades of Wes Montgomery's sound all around, and the band pays tribute to this great guitarist by employing aspects of his signature style on a tune that was never recorded by him: "I Who Have Nothing." The title track features a repetitive rhytmic opening section and the band's playing indicates a variety of influences.

Minasi's arrangements are inventive and challenging, but even though these are excellent performances, the band tends to overplay some times. But then again, this ain't no beginner's work, and it reveals that Dom Minasi and his band have a lot to say (and play).

Track Listing

What Is This Thing Called Love; Feels Like Rain In China; For My Father; Quick Response; I Who Have Nothing; Into the Night; Dizzy Lizzie; When Your Dreams Come True; Softly As In A Morning Sunrise.

Personnel

Dom Minasi
guitar

Dom Minasi--Guitar; Mark Whitecage--Alto Sax; Kyle Koehler--Organ; John Bollinger--Drums

Album information

Title: Quick Response | Year Released: 2005 | 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.