Headin’ Out (Jazzeria)
Matt Criscuolo
Released March 3, 2015
DownBeat Four-and-a-Half-Star Review
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mOLsMzGOACSZ1H-Nshd1dUHAWat-Y5rWY
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/6qu5aJBzCakJFd4d1sqJIc?si=7DlUFt5dRj63JNRcMLzXpQ
About:
This record has impassioned high quality modern improvisational music on it. It is only slightly conventional in nature as it nods to avant garde jazz. High spirited solos by guitar and saxophone. Incredible drum rhythms and awesome guitar & sax solos. Ed soph on drums is one of the world’s greatest drummers who plays tons of interesting things on this record. Tony purrone on guitar is a phenomenon on guitar and is so fun to listen to. He plays his ass off on this record. Preston murphy on bass is fiery and swings hard on this joint always laying down a serious foundation. He’d split his finger just before this record date but pushed through the session creatively overcoming his handicap producing some wild stuff. Matt Criscuolo on alto is a killin’ saxophonist/composer who has his own immediately identifiable tone and approach able to play really pretty and gritty as well. Can’t go wrong with this record.
Track Listing:
1. Enchanted (Matt Criscuolo) 06:54
2. Little Niles (Randy Weston) 06:04
3. At Night (Matt Criscuolo) 07:42
4. Sippin’ at Bells (Miles Davis) 08:38
5. Karma at Dharma (Tony Purrone) 05:40
6. R 5 10 Select (Tony Purrone) 07:53
7. A Flower is a Lovesome Thing (Billy Strayhorn) 07:33
8. Centripetal (Matt Criscuolo) 04:24
9. Renée’s Dream (Matt Criscuolo) 04:12
Personnel:
Matt Criscuolo: alto saxophone
Tony Purrone: guitar
Preston Murphy: acoustic bass
Ed Soph: drums
Recorded September 23 – 24, 2014, at Carriage House Studios, Stamford, CT
Producer: Matt Criscuolo
Mixing: Ian Calanan and John Montagnese
Mastering: Phil Magnotti
Review:
For his sixth outing as a leader, alto saxophonist and New York native Matt Criscuolo is in fine company with veteran drummer and jazz educator Ed Soph, up-and-coming bassist Preston Murphy and guitarist/co-conspirator Tony Purrone, whose chops are so audacious throughout this session that his solos elicit howls of giddy laughter from grown six-string aficionados. Criscuolo is a hard-blowing improviser whose potent flights often push the envelope toward the outer limits, as heard in his intense solos on hard-driving, free-spirited renditions of Randy Weston’s “Little Niles” and Miles Davis’ “Sippin’ At Bells,” the latter featuring saxophonist and guitarist going toe-to-toe in some outre exchanges that culminate in what sounds like a conversation between free-improvisation stalwarts Derek Bailey and Jimmy Lyons. But Criscuolo is also a brilliant ballad interpreter with a lyrical touch, as he demonstrates on a lovely reading of Billy Strayhorn’s melancholy “A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing,” which also serves as a showcase for Soph’s interactive genius. Purrone, who enjoyed high visibility in the ’70s during his stint with the Heath Brothers and has since made a dozen or more recordings as a leader, is in rare form here. Whether he’s delivering Django-esque filigrees, as on Criscuolo’s “Enchanted” or the altoist’s bluesy “At Night,” dealing in hard-bop territory on a swinging “Centripetal” or wailing with fiery fusion abandon on his “Karma At Dharma,” his fretboard feats never fail to amaze. This solidly swinging quartet offering, grounded by a world-class rhythm tandem, is brimming with the sound of surprise.
Bill Milkowski (DownBeat)
