Remember those old baseball cards that listed players like Phil Linz on just about every position from shortstop to outfield to catcher? Well, that’s like Troy Roberts, as he plays soprano sax, alto sax and tenor sax as well as electric and acoustic bass, sometimes all multi-tracked together (!) along with adroitly swinging drummer Jimmy Macbride on this wondrously satisfying and palpably rich album.
While Roberts takes leads on the various saxes, with a rich tenor one on the melodic “Little Room”, getting Coltrane-ish on “Rejekt” and supplying a boppy soprano on “Solar Panels”, the solos weave between rich reeds melded and harmonized like a Raphael tapestry, velvety on “The Comedian” and fluffy like a cirrus cloud on “Aeonian”. Likewise, his electric bass can be hip and funky as he digs a deep groove on “Prayer Of Hope” or acoustically veering through Macbride’s soft brushwork on the lilting “Prayer Of Hope”. My only concern about this album is how he’s going to carry it out on stage-does he have some access to cloning? Check these two guys out!