Bruce Gertz is a legend in the jazz world, having been Professor of Bass at Berklee since 1976, has written six books, and is a contributing editor to Bass World Magazine. As a performer he has worked with such classic greats as Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Dave Brubeck, Gary Burton, John Abercrombie, Joey Calderazzo, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Bill Frisell, Gil Evans, Jon Hendricks, Jerry Bergonzi, Joe Lovano, George Garzone, Mike Stern, Larry Coryell, and Danilo Perez among many others, in addition to leading his own groups. He has been bandleader on more than 20 albums, and here on his latest he is playing with Phil Grenadier (trumpet, flugelhorn), Rick DiMuzio (tenor saxophone), Gison Schachnik (piano) and Gary Fieldman (drums).
The CD digipak is rather unusual as instead of providing information on when and where it was recorded, or the thoughts of the artist, we have instead a series of reviews from people who were given advance copies, which I think is the first time I have seen this on a commercially available release (I have seen it on a few promo copies). Mind you, that is just a minor complaint on what is a wonderfully arranged and delicate jazz album. All he tunes are by Gertz, yet if one was to play this without knowing what role he played in the group one would probably not pick him as the bassist, as for much of the time he sits quietly in the back, letting the others have the spotlight. When he does let himself come more the fore it is with thought and while he is a majestic player it is all about what is good for the piece, not for him to show off.
There is a sense of control throughout this album, as while there is a certain amount of freedom it has also been scored with a specific purpose in mind, and in some ways, this never sounds like a modern jazz release as there are many nods back to the Sixties. It is strange to think a bassist not only composed but arranged this as he has put the horns front and centre, while piano and drums are also to the fore, while he sits at the back providing some wonderful melodies of his own without ever overshadowing what is happening with the rest of the band.
This is one of those jazz albums when one just wants to sit and let the music just wash over, as Gertz and his band have created quite a spell.
Rating: 8/10
Links:
https://www.brucegertz.com/