Customer Reviews

Look

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Ralph Alessi has found his métier. Alessi has always displayed huge chops and an interesting concept. The problem has been that he has struggled to find the right approach to solving the basic jazz enigma: how to make a genuine contribution to the music without being either too weird (Hissy Fit) or too esoteric (Vice & Virtue, Phfew). With his new quartet, This Against That, he's landed on just the right format to optimally display his considerable talents, and his new disc, Look, has all the earmarks of an instant classic.

His band is certainly a formidable one. Let's start with pianist Andy Milne, a player of whom I have only slight knowledge. The Canadian-born, Brooklyn-based pianist and keysman not only leads the Nu Jazz band, Dapp Theory, but has played extensively with Steve Coleman and other M-Bass Collective members, Ravi Coltrane, and Carla Cook. I really love his piano concept: very mysterioso/minimalist, but capable of stunning solo statements. Check out his work on "The Tooth Fairy and Pistol Pete" to see what I mean.

Bassist Drew Gress certainly needs no introduction to anyone at all familiar with cutting edge jazz. A member of the brilliantly quirky Claudia Quintet, lead artist on the widely praised outings 7 Black Butterflies and Spin and Drift, as well as five other discs, contributor to the music of artists as diverse and renowned as Tim Berne, Don Byron, Uri Caine, Bill Carrothers, Fred Hersch, Tony Malaby, Mat Maneri, Ben Perowski, and others, Gress is among the foremost practitioners of his instrument alive today. One of the things he brings to this music is a thorough knowledge of both classic and "out" jazz, plus the ability to move with perfect naturalness in each. His solos are masterpieces of economy and imagination.

This is certainly Mark Ferber's greatest outing. Given room to stretch out, he's all over his kit, now driving, now providing coloration, now percussively shaping everything around him. I also like how up-front he's recorded. Really, he sounds like about 10 great Downtown drummers all wrapped up into one, but still maintaining his own distinct approach and personality.

Leader Alessi has matured greatly since I last heard him (on Hissy Fit, I think), especially in the areas of band leadership and composition. He's always had a wonderfully warm yet dry trumpet sound, thoroughly modern, but steeped in the history of the instrument. For me the high point of his playing on this disc come in the four pieces that include Ravi Coltrane on tenor sax. Their quirky, edgy, harmonically daring interaction always intrigues even as their incredibly precise intonation astounds. Yet there's nothing either aridly academic or out-for-out's-sake unapproachable about their playing: just joyously eccentric conversation unfailingly listenable.

But it's the compositions (all by Alessi) that make the strongest impression. Far removed from both the hackneyed approach of wallowing in past jazz glories (especially, God forbid, hard bop) and superficially appropriating hare-today-goon-tomorrow pop-music ephemera (hip-hop, lounge, house), this music rings with hugely original and completely diverse compositional strategies, as if Tin Hat met the Claudia Quintet.

Certainly the finest music ever purveyed by that generally avant-garde label, Between the Lines, and some of the most provocative, listenable, and endearing music of the new century. This is what jazz is all about: forward-looking, but rooted in the past; edgy, but accessible; brilliant, but friendly. Absolutely not to be missed.

though i have approximately 2.000 of jazz albums "look" is one of my obsessive listenings in last months that chases others from my cd player! last night i asked why:

- because of the obscurity that keeps its place after listening all and intriguing you for an other listen in a few days
- because of short and catchy cuts that never bother you
- because original, modern and "complex, yet accessible" compositions concern me more with respect to standards and similar post-bob compositions in last years
- because of ravi coltrane, drew gress, andy milne and mark ferber's collective soul
- because of the "near cry", "hands", "lap nap" and especially "old beady eyes"
- because it really looks... at music/culture/society and in me

for me, albums make some similar effects in last years: drew gress - "7 black butterflies", dave binney - "south", vijay iyer - "tragicomic", scott colley - "architect of the silent moment", edward simon - "la bikina", andrew hill - "dusk"

have a nice and obsessive listenings....

Ralph Alessi is perhaps the hottest trumpet player in jazz today. Only Dave Douglas is arguably better. Alessi has a beautiful warm tone on the trumpet, blazing chops, and great taste in song writing. On this CD he teams up with Drew Gress on bass, Ravi Coltrane on sax, Mark Ferber on drums, and Andy Milne on piano. Drew Gress is a great contemporary bass player. His critically acclaimed 7 black butterflies and irrational numbers also feature Alessi. He is also renown for his work with Claudia Quintet. He has a dominant presence throughout the album. He is really tight with Milne and Ferber and the rhythm section is solid throughout the album. While normally I'm not a fan of Ravi Coltrane (I've seen him 2x and been unimpressed) his playing is exceptional on this album. In fact I can't say I've ever heard him play better. Besides Alessi's sensational playing the highlight of this album are the creative songs and tight interplay between the musicians. I think you can get a good taste of the CD by listening to the samples. What you hear in the samples is a pretty good representation of the CD as a whole (for once amazon include 60 second samples instead of 30 second samples!) Long story short: anyone who wants to hear what's going on in jazz in 2007 needs to get this CD. If you haven't been paying attention ... jazz in 2007 has gotten to the point where it rivals that of the 50s and 60s. The stars of 2007 are just amazing and Alessi is one of this elite group. If you pick up CD and like what you hear, make sure you check out Scott Colley's Architect of the Silent Moment as well. This also features R. Alessi.

For a trumpet-led quartet with a lyrical sound and traces of classical influence, try Ralph Alessi and his group This Against That.
While Alessi has played as a sideman for Steve Coleman (alto sax), Uri Caine (piano) and Don Byron (clarinet), among others, *Look* is his fourth album as a leader. In several compositions here, Alessi demonstrates a preference for ostinato and diminuendo; for example, in "Hands," two repeated measures gradually decelerate at the finish to a slow fade.
On four of the 12 tracks, Ravi Coltrane (tenor sax) joins Alessi; in the title tune, their two horns interplay sinuously over Andy Milne's insistent piano. On "Lap Nap," Milne contributes staccato piano notes that transform into a funky solo. Drew Gress uses his bow to coax eerie mourning sounds out of his bass on "Platform Velvet."
On this Between the Lines release, though, Alessi's creative oscillations with Coltrane are what to *Look* for. (If you download just one track, make it "Old Beady Eyes.")