One Is The Other

Obviously one can't expect a blowing session on ECM, but one can hope for more heat than is generated here. I've long thought Billy Hart one of the most swinging drummers in jazz, ever since I first heard him in Washington in the early 70s, backing local tenor legend Buck Hill. This album, to me, is too structured, too studied, too careful. It often seems to be a reconsideration, albeit harmonically extended, of the mid-60s Blue Note sound, exemplified by Hancock, Shorter and Tony Williams. Apropos, tenor saxist Turner is a cool distillation of antecedents like Frank Foster and George Coleman. Pianist Iverson does the best work here, with several snaky, subtle solos (his composition "Tall Trees" is a clever reworking of "Two Bass Hit"). Inclusion of the standard, "Some Enchanted Evening," was a mistake; it's best left to romantics like Houston Person. Overall, there's too much thinking going on in this album and not enough cooking.Update-In June 2016, Hart, Iverson and Ben Street, the bassist on this date, played a NYC club date with, yes, Houston Person!

Highly recommended. I own both of this group's prior albums, and this is by far my favorite. It's incredibly fluent, and it really swings.Mark Turner's playing is particularly notable on this CD. Turner is always excellent, but this performance was more accessible here than some of his recent recordings. I was reminded of his incredible recordings on the Warner Brothers label in the late 1990s and early 2000s, such as Dharma Days and In This World (which also features the first tune on this CD, Lennie's Groove). Great stuff.

If you like progressive jazz that has elements of freedom but not totally free, this is the recording for you. The exception here is Rodgers and Hammerstein's Some Enchanted Evening, which sticks close to the melody.

3 stars

More of Billy Hart on this CD than the previous one with the group. A wonderful combination of musicians. Great.

Very interesting compositions; great interplay with all the members of the group.

Of this group's two ECM albums (there's also an earlier album on Highnote), I'd narrowly give this one the gold medal. In particular, there are two outstanding Mark Turner compositions here which are given excellent performances - the tongue-twisting "Lennie Groove" and the deeply soulful "Sonnet for Stevie" (you can hear a very different version of this one on Turner's own album, LATHE OF HEAVEN). Aside from Turner's tunes, you also have three tunes by Hart and two by pianist Ethan Iverson, all of which are excellent - and the standard "One Enchanted Evening", given a lovely reading here. As with the earlier ALL OUR REASONS, this album is fairly "straight-ahead" by ECM standards, though less gritty than Hart's earlier recordings. Highly recommended!

Billy Hart had found a great quartet. Mark Turner on sax, Ethan Iverson on piano, Ben Street on bass and Billy on drums. Like the previous album in ECM but less darkness, this is a really good jazz CD. The balance between the musician is perfect and the music intensive and introspective. Some times the equilibrium is perfect. Turner is specially good in this album and Hart is the ideal conductor of all the music feeling. A great jazz album, you must hear it.

I was very disappointed with this album. I adore Billy Hart as a drummer, he's one of the greats imo, but this album lacks tunes and has little soul to bring it alive. It's awash with hapless tinkerings and tootings that rarely, if ever captivate. Methinks that a bit of a rethink is required, Billy.

A well established quartet, and it shows in this disc. Usual impeccable ECM recording, and stellar playing. Mark Turner and Ethan Iverson are among the most creative musicians around today.

Yes

4 étoiles par respect pour Billy Hart (dm), né en novembre 1940, qui a joué avec de nombreux musiciens célèbres ( McCoy Tyner, W. Shorter, H. Hancock, M. Davis, S. Getz ... ) et qui n'a pas signé tant de disques sous son nom. Celui-ci ressemble à son dernier Cd " All Our Reasons " paru aussi chez ECM en 2012 donc pas une grande surprise. Evidemment, ces 4 musiciens sont tous excellents, rien à redire, Ethan Iverson (p) jeune pianiste né fév. 1973, plus connu au sein du trio " The Bad Plus " y libère sa virtuosité, Mark Turner (ts) plus connu et un peu moins jeune, né en nov. 1965, toujours aussi lyrique et puissant et Ben Street (cb) qui assure la double mission de gardien du tempo et de l'harmonie.Tout ce beau monde s'amuse sans jamais se disperser sur des compositions ( 3 du batteur ) toujours rebondissantes et passionnantes, sans jamais se perdre et petit cadeau, un Standard peu joué " Some Enchanted Evening ", ils sont forts ces Ricains ...Alors pourquoi pas 5 étoiles me direz-vous ?... Tout simplement que ce disque est un peu austère, triste, à l'image de la pochette qui ressemble plus à un faire-part nécrologique, pas un grand disque donc, juste un bon Cd comme ECM sait les faire ... L'ensemble est un peu fade, plat et la prise de son pas toujours gaie ... Si vous aimez Billy hart et ses confrères, foncez sinon, vous savez ce qui vous reste à faire ?...

TERCER DISCO DE ESTE ESPLENDIDO CUARTETO DE BILLY HART, SEGUNDO CON ECM. TODOS EXTRAORDINARIOS, EN ESPECIAL TURNER AL SAXO Y EVERSON AL PIANO. COMPOSICIONES PROPIAS Y UNA PRODUCCION PERFECTA. UN DISCO QUE TODO AMANTE DEL JAZZ DEBERIA COMPRAR