Customer Reviews

Slow Lane

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Slow Lane is a an album that makes a strong, conherent musical statement, but never sacrifices music quality for the sake of a "concept". The atmosphere is relaxed but has depth and substance--a strong passion comes through. Schwartz makes every note count; The Slow Lane is a place where less is definitely more. Schwartz's original compositions show the influences of various jazz greats (Abdullah Ibrahim, Wayne Shorter...), just as he manages to make others' compositions his own through novel arrangements and interpretations that respect the original works. And if nothing else, this album is worth owning just for Schwartz's remarkable, substantial sound. Listen to his tone...

folks, all I have to say is that Anton can play...This disc is filled with uplifting, sensitive, quality moments...The world of music is melody and creativity starved, Anton addresses that here...Enjoy!

This artist has an extraordinary sound that is lilting in one moment, moody and introspective in the next, but always with a resonance that lasts beyond the moment. The original compositions show great mastery of the genre, and the covers are performed with suprising turns on what could be familiar phrasing. Every time I listen to this CD, I find more to love about it.

If you remember how beautiful up-tempo, cool, and moody jazz can sound in the hands of fine musicians, listen to THE SLOW LANE

The Slow Lane by young tenor saxophonist Anton Schwartz is another of the small-label recordings that Reference Recordings publicized back in the day, and it should prove popular among audiophiles who give it an audition by virtue of its good sound quality (not surprisingly, it happens to be HDCD-encoded) and pleasant program. Schwartz is supported on this outing by Paul Nagel on piano, John Shifflet on bass, and Jason Lewis on drums, and together they play both originals by Schwartz and a few tunes by other jazzmen, such as Wayne Shorter's "Mucako" and Billy Strayhorn's "Chelsea Bridge" (which is probably my favorite cut on this CD).

As the title of the CD suggests, the music here is on the quiet side, gently ruminative rather than aggressively thought-provoking. Although it is music on the gentle side, it never slips into the "lite jazz" or "E-Z listening" mode; this is good stuff that I recommend to all audiophiles with a taste for 70 minutes of pleasant jazz, well recorded.