The hard bop alto saxophonist Christopher Hollyday is back with his first album as band leader in more than quarter of a century. This may be a short album, with just six standards, and a total length of just 33 minutes, but this is a master class in jazz. Here he has been joined by trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos, pianist Joshua White, bassist Rob Thorsen and drummer Tyler Kreutel. His interplay with Castellanos, who often uses a mute, is just sublime and it is these two who tend to provide the solos and interaction while the others concentrate on keeping the flow going so everyone knows where they are at all times. This is jazz which makes me think of the Sixties, as it became more aggressive and, in your face, long strung out solos designed to show the dexterity and skill of the players involved.
Interestingly, this album really is a return for Hollyday, as he hasn’t been performing for such for some years. While previously touring the country with his group, Hollyday gave clinics at local schools and became interested in teaching, leading to him studying at the Berklee College Of Music. In 1996 he moved to San Diego where he has been a jazz educator ever since, working as a private teacher after having been a band director for 20 years.
One certainly wouldn’t guess he hasn’t been touring incessantly, given the control he has both of his own instrument and the arrangements he has developed. This is yet another superb album which fans of this style of jazz really should be seeking out.
Rating: 8/10
Track list:
- One of Another Kind
- Hallucinations
- Everything Happens
- Autumn in New York
- I Got the World on a String
- Segment
