One of the last living pioneers of the post bop movement, Dave Liebman continues to deliver strong sounds and directions. This double cd set has his current band of Matt Vashlishan/as-cl-fl, Bobby Avey/p-key, Tony Marino/b and Alex Ritz/dr in settings divided into “ Acoustic” and “Electric”, which seems to be arbitrary as Avey’s keyboards are noticed on the “acoustic” piece “Selim.”
For the”acoustic” side, Liebman takes you to Monument Valley with his C flute with an expansive and starry night of “Continues to Ignore” while the loose read of “All Blues” has alto sax and soprano sax weave in and out like a tapestry. The team shows some bop chops on the hip “Good Bait” and the tribute to his employer is rich on the spacey “Selim.”
On the “electric” disc, Ritz is tensile and kinetic on “Surreality” while Marino’s pizzicato musings team up with shadowy flute on the Middle Eastern “The Moors.” The team goes dark on a take of Monk’s “Ugly Beauty” and then glows with delight on the ringer of the evening, an impressionistic read of “Love Me Tender.” This guy never runs out of ideas or inspirations. Are we appreciating his career enough?
Whaling City Sound