Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Andrew Sterman's Album "Wet Paint:" Tenor and Ensemble in A Post-Trane Present


Tenor jazzman Andrew Sterman, judging from his pleasingly melifluous album Wet Paint (Innova 771), works out of a post-Coltrane, Ornette-Coleman-via-Dewey-Redman, Jan Garbarek (more in the lower register though) inspiration to a music that is well balanced, lyrical and a leap into a place within that stylistic world. This has a sort of ECM-extroverted feel to it. The band is good: Sterman on tenor and a little alto flute plus Nick Rossi, piano, Kermit Driscoll, contrabass, and Tim Horner, drums. They are joined for around half the tracks by Richie Vitale on Wheeleresque trumpet and fluegel. Most of the rest has Todd Reynolds on violin, that Bang-On-A-Can all-encompassing singularity.

The rhythm-plus-piano team operates squarely within the style mentioned and give Sterman a great backdrop to hang his full sound onto. And Rossi's soloing is very well thought-out post-Tyner.

It's forward moving modern jazz of the best sort and so highly recommended.

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