This quintet was put together by guitarist Skip Grasso and bassist Phil Ravita with the aim of recording all-new material, as opposed to working on classics from the tradition, and to achieve this they brought in tenor and soprano-saxophonist Benny Russell, pianist Greg Small, and drummer Nuc Vega. Small contributes one song, Russell two and the other six are either by Grasso or Ravita. It certainly doesn’t seem as if this is a project which was put together just for this recording, as there is some wonderful interplay, especially between Grasso and Russell. All musicians are skilled improvisors away from this band, but this feels far more as if it were heavily scored without a great deal of room for self-interpretation.
Drummer Vega is massively over the top for a lot of this, very busy indeed, and I found that this was something of a distraction at times, as he was pushing when the rest of the band were more laid-back, which makes he seem somewhat frantic and trying to get the band into a place they are not sure they want to be. His disconnection means this release does not always have the presence and power it should, and while there is a time and a place for drum solos, that is normally in a live environment and not in the studio. Overall, the album just feels too “busy”, and this would have had more impact if there had been less, as while I am sure this would go down well in concert, sat at home it is not quite the same experience.
Rating: 6/10
