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grant Stewart
Around The
Corner
SHARP NINE 1046
★★½
Dmitry Baevsky
Down With It
SHARP NINE 1045
★★★
Grant Stewart and Dmitry
Baevsky are two saxophonists
who’ve been
on the scene, plying their
trade, for several years. Their new solo albums
for Sharp Nine feature fairly conservative and
safe straightahead takes, and while Stewart and
Baevsky are excellent technicians and improvisers,
at times they betray their influences, almost
to the point of being derivative.
On Around The Corner tenorman Stewart is
joined by guitarist Peter Bernstein, bassist Peter
Washington and drummer Phil Stewart. Save for
the medium-up take of “Get Happy,” most of the
tunes, such as Duke Ellington’s “Blue Rose” and
Barry Harris’ “Around The Corner,” are rarely
recorded. Stewart, who recently added soprano
to his arsenal, has an old-school approach to
tenor that emphasizes a full sound and swinging
lines that weave though the changes. On “Get
Happy” he mixes old Lester Young licks with
Ivo Perelman/
gerry hemingway
The Apple In
The Dark
LEO 569
★★★½
Ivo Perelman/
Daniel Levin/
torbjörn
Zetterberg
Soulstorm
CLEAN FEED 184
★★★½
Born in Brazil and based in New York, Ivo Perelman
established himself with high-energy assertions
of free-jazz verities. But 21 years after
his debut recording he seems more interested
in finding new sources of light than holding up
the fire music torch one more time. And if that
means that neither of these records shapes up as
a perfectly formed statement, both are involving
and often quite thrilling expressions of a restless,
creative spirit.
Perelman has put it on record that he’s a Coltrane
man, so it’s to his credit that The Apple In
The Dark, a duo with drummer Gerry Hemingway,
sounds nothing like Interstellar Space. The
most obvious difference comes from Perelman’s
decision to play piano on half the tracks. Oc-
52 DOWNBEAT NOVEMBER 2010
bebop phrases, showing his knowledge, absorption
and ability to recall the tradition, all in the
service of his style. Stewart sometimes gets too
close to Dexter Gordon’s sound and approach,
especially on the Gil Fuller/Dizzy Gillespie ballad
“I Waited For You.” His tone, articulation
and use of the horn’s lower and mid-register are
straight-up Dexter, although he plays more notes
than Gordon in his solo. His playing is pretty, but
he threatens to lose his identity via his proximity
to Gordon. Bernstein picks his spots when comping,
and his solos generally consist of melodic
single-note lines that often have block-chord gestures
mixed in.
Altoist Dmitry Baevsky hails from St. Petersburg,
Russia, by way of New York’s The New
School. On Down With It Baevsky, who has fin-
casionally he seems so entranced with the line
he’s tracing with the keyboard that he neglects to
make it cohere into something communicative,
but on “The Path” his shapes take clear form,
highlighted with strategic precision by Hemingway’s
spare and telling strokes. And while the
title “Sinful” augurs something highly indulgent,
the track is notable for the relaxed and thoughtful
interplay between Perelman’s short-gruff phrases
and the drummer’s light, nimble snare work.
Soulstorm is the product of an act of faith.
Perelman agreed to tour Portugal and make a record
with two musicians, New York cellist Daniel
Levin and Swedish double bassist Torbjörn
Zetterberg, who did not know him, and whose
work he did not know. It paid off. While the col-
gers galore and uses them to
spin out long complex lines,
tears through nine cuts with
his regular rhythm section
of pianist Jeb Patton, bassist
David Wong and drummer
Jason Brown. Baevsky’s
approach is a bit more aggressive
and bluesy than
Stewart’s, and he displays his
ability to handle scorchers on
Bud Powell’s “Down With
It.” He masterfully takes
elements from Thelonious
Monk’s “We See” and uses
them as a point of departure to create a solo that
says much. But at times Baevsky digs a little too
deep into his Cannonball Adderley bag by way of
his sweet, yet hefty, subtone sound and phrasing.
Trumpeter Jermey Pelt joins the group on four
tracks and is a welcome addition. The resulting
quintet swings its tail off and is reminiscent of the
Adderley brothers’ groups. —Chris Robinson
around the Corner: Get Happy; The Scene Is Clean; I Waited For
You; That’s My Girl; Blue Rose; Maybe September; Around The Corner;
Something’s Gotta Give. (51:58)
Personnel: Grant Stewart, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
(2, 6); Peter Bernstein, guitar; Peter Washington, bass; Phil Stewart,
drums.
Down With It: Down With It; Mount Harissa; We See; LaRue;
Shabozz; Last Night When We Were Young; Decision; Webb City; I’ll
String Along With You. (59:29)
Personnel: Dmitry Baevsky, alto saxophone; Jeremy Pelt, trumpet
(4, 5, 7, 8); Jeb Patton, piano; David Wong, bass; Jason Brown,
drums.
ordering info: sharpnine.com
lective improvisations on this
double album are as freewheeling
as anything Perelman’s
done, there are only a couple
moments squirreled away on
the second disc where they
sound like the work of strangers
feeling each other out.
Levin weighs in with dramatic
bowed melodies and elaborate
pizzicato elaborations
that draw utterances of unusually
restrained tragedy from the
usually extroverted saxophonist.
Zetterberg drives the music
forward so vigorously that the absent drummer
is never missed, and he also draws Perelman
into far more bluesy territory than he usually frequents.
Two CDs of such concentrated music is a
bit much to take in one listening, but taken a disc
at a time this is bracing stuff.
—Bill Meyer
the apple In the Dark: The Apple In The Dark; Lispector; A Maca
No Escuro; Sinful; Vicious Circle; The Path; Green Settings; Wrestling;
Indulgences; Lisboa. (63:39)
Personnel: Ivo Perelman, tenor saxophone, piano; Gerry Hemingway,
drums.
ordering info: leorecords.com
soulstorm: Disc 1: Soulstorm; Footsteps; Pig Latin; The Body;
Day By Day; Explanation (61:49). Disc 2: Plaza Maua; Dry Point Of
Horses; A Manifesto Of The City; The Way Of The Cross; In Search
of Dignity (68:26).
Personnel: Ivo Perelman, tenor saxophone; Daniel Levin, cello;
Torbjörn Zetterberg, bass.
ordering info: cleanfeed-records.com