A peer's delight
Honzik | 10/31/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"A good measure of whether a Jazz tune has met the approval of its peers is if it makes it into one of the major "Fake Books". Quiet Girl, the first track in this album, finds itself in one of Sher Music's fake books.
This album is full of unbelievable tunes, masterfully played by Billy Childs, Bob Sheppard, and others. One of my two favorites is Quiet Girl, a song whose changes are really quite complex, yet with a haunting melody that is very compelling. The other, Backwards Bop, burns white hot, again with Billy Childs trademark abilty to extend classical Jazz forms (in this case hard-bop) using innovative rhythmic and harmonic structures.
Another note: Bob Sheppard, the sax player on this album, is phenomenal. This is a tight, solid group and one of my all-time favorite albums."