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Staying in the Game starts off with the 24-minute explosion “Sunday Afternoon” with Fred Anderson weaving in and around the active rhythm section of Harrison Bankhead and Tim Daisy. The energy starts slow and builds to the fire Fred Anderson is know for. To highlight Fred’s melodic prowess in different contexts, the second tune “The Elephant and the Bee” duo piece finds Fred playing off the low end thunder and high scratches of Bankhead’s bass. “60 Degrees in November” shows the trio at full speed again, followed by a re-working of one of Fred’s tunes, “Wandering”, done here with a delicate thumb piano intro by Harrison Bankhead who jumps to the cello for the second half of the song. “Springing Winter” is another duo, this time with Tim Daisy’s drums bubbling up from beneath Fred’s sax. The album closer, “Changes and Bodies and Tones”, starts with a Tim Daisy solo, followed by a feverish high string bass idea, upon which Fred drops a majestic and blues melody. And they roll out on that vibe, a hot and thoughtful set recorded two days before Barack Obama’s election victory.
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Fred Anderson - tenor
saxophone |
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“Anderson's playing, which comprises a blend of bluesy, postbop licks and angular, improvised runs, is reminiscent of John Coltrane, Archie Shepp and fellow AACM-er Anthony Braxton's off-kilter, searching sounds of the 1960s that extended Charlie Parker's vocabulary. But Anderson's music, rather than mimicking the style of those jazz giants, embodies their challenging, probing philosophy of going further, of creating anew while adhering to a distinct harmonic tradition..” ? All About Jazz |
(ESP-Disk')
