- Michael Jefry Stevens - piano
- Herb Robertson - trumpet
- Mark Whitecage - alto saxophone
- Joe Fonda - double bass
- Harvey Sorgen - drums
| Discography of Joe Fonda | 1997 |
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Lineup
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Recorded live in Europe in 1997
Released 1998 by Leo Records [LR 260]
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CD Reviews
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January 01, 1999 by Robert Spencer for All About Jazz Reviewing can be difficult: there are an awful lot of discs out there that sound like all the rest. This ain't one of them. Evolution confirms that the Fonda-Stevens Group is one of the best-kept secrets in jazz. This fourth release from the quintet is one of the best showcases to date for five of the most exciting instrumentalists currently playing. In an age when most of the best-known exponents of the genre have gone into the lick-recycling business, bassist Fonda and pianist Stevens, along with Herb Robertson (trumpet, cornet, fluegelhorn), Mark Whitecage (alto sax, clarinet), and Harvey Sorgen (drums) play jazz in the truest sense of the word: not what your grandfather played, but the music of excitement, the music of exploration. The Group is playing within the tradition: they play heads (which are usually hypnotically catchy) and solos, their instrumentation is ordinary for jazz, and they swing. But "tradition" for this quintet is not artificially truncated to leave out the Sixties and Seventies. The variety of tempos, harmonies, dynamic levels, and moods of these pieces - and within them - is an artful combination of the best of what is conventionally understood as jazz with the compositional and timbral innovations of John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, and those who worked with them and came after them. Robertson and Whitecage can essay the prettiest of melodies with perfect straightforwardness (check out the gorgeous "Strayhorn" and the swinging "Birdtalk"), and burn at the outer edges with no less compelling confidence. The extraordinary Stevens never plays what one might expect, but never seems to make a misstep, displaying just as much versatility and quick-change ability as the horn players. He can play yearning ballads ("Strayhorn"), genial bop, sometimes with a Monk flavor ("From the Source"), contemporary classical coloristics ("2nd Time Around" and "From the Source"), furious energy music ("In the Whitecage"), and more. Fonda is no less sensitive an accompanist, but he stands out here more for his compositions: "In the Whitecage," "2nd Time Around," "Song for My Mother" and "From the Source" - the latter in a version strikingly different from that on his From the Source album. Each is uniquely crafted and immediately much different from the others; "2nd Time Around" is especially noteworthy for its extended and treacherous unison section; "In the Whitecage" and "From the Source" sprawling tours-de-force that take in a panorama of styles and moods. Stevens' contributions, "Strayhorn" and the retro "Birdtalk," are less immediately ambitious (although they both contain more than a few surprises) but no less appealing. Every so often there comes along a really striking disc, one that serious jazz listeners should not overlook. Here it is. Don't miss it. Reprinted with permission. Copyright © 2006 All About Jazz and Robert Spencer. All reviews written by Robert Spencer:
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Bruce Lee Gallanter for Downtown Music Gallery This great under-recognized ensemble of local giants has done ten releases of their superb playing in various forms, which have in the past included Dave Douglas & Mark Feldman ( Mosaic Sextet turned into New & Used), a Braxton duo with Joe Fonda (Anthony's bassist of choice nowadays), Thomas Chapin (on gigs), Dom Duval and Kevin Norton amongst the cream. This is the fourth fine cd by this quintet version of the group who consist of Mark Whitecage - monster alto sax & clarinet player, Herb Robertson - master of myriads of trumpet & flugel sounds, currently living in Berlin, and great drummer from Woodstock area-Harvey Sorgen, also decade long drummer for Hot Tuna. It doesn't get much better than this! Much of this reminds me of the incredible last studio effort by Eric Dolphy - "Out to Lunch", where Dolphy & trumpeter Freddie Hubbard match wits, blasting streams of hard swinging notes. This cd is live from a European tour, the only place where they get a chance to blow minds, sadly enough, so rarely in NYC where three of them live. Great solos by all involved, nice writing, captivating interplay between each. So watch out if they come to your town! For the rest of us, check out this or any of their fabulous cds. Reprinted with permission. Copyright © 2006 Downtown Music Gallery and Bruce Lee Gallanter. All reviews written by Bruce Lee Gallanter:
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