like rain whispers mist

Quartet

I have been thinking a lot about lists lately and of course about a best of list for the year since they do serve some positives especially for people to learn how their particular tastes jive with another persons. When I first got into jazz I quickly learned who I could trust and who to take a recommendation from with a grain of salt based off of their best of lists. Of course they are never complete, never inclusive enough, and never accurately represent things as well as they can, but they are fun and usually insightful.

While thinking about this year's list I returned to last year's and found myself listening to to Billy Hart's Quartet for the first time in a while. This is not explosive jazz on the cutting edge of some frontier, but damned if it isn't pure modern jazz at it's finest featuring one of my favorite saxophonists Mark Turner. Looking back on the past while moving forward is one of those stock phrases that would apply here. You have the core who has been performing jazz going on five decades while the rest of the group is at least 25 years younger.

I wish I had more time for this album, but work is quite hectic this week. Trust enough that this is a beautiful album that didn't get enough face time for the average jazz fan. Iverson is on full display outside of the context of The Bad Plus and Turner is simply waiting to be discovered by more people outside of Kurt Rosenwinkel fans. If you dig Turner, be sure to check out FLY with Larry Grenadier and Jeff Ballard on Savoy (you can see a live clip I posted a while back here). And if you dig the Iverson/Hart team look for the Fresh Sounds New Talent live release The Minor Passions.

The tunes at hand here are a mix of standards among original material from every member except for Street. For a quick listen try "Mellow B" which consistently grabs my attention with every listen but the ballad "Lullaby For Imke" is simply not to be missed.

You can hear the album or a particular tune below by double clicking on a song title. You can visit Billy Hart here. Be sure to check out the multi part interview conducted by Ethan Iverson there, it is a rare insight into a drummer who is often overlooked. You can pick up Quartet at Amazon here.

Labels: Listening Session, Musicians H - N