Search - Greg Fishman :: New Journey

New Journey is arguably Greg Fishman s finest recording to date, featuring performances of seven originals with a top-notch quartet. Most of these tunes were written when I was on concert tours of Bangkok, Singapore and Japan. The music is mostly straight-ahead but with some unusual chord changes and twists. The program begins with a perfect opener, Champagne Jane. The uptempo swinger has a catchy and singable melody, some cooking tenor, a piano solo by Luxion that keeps the momentum flowing, and a brief trade of fours with drummer Gratteau. One could imagine Dexter Gordon or Richie Cole having fun on this tune, a song that could very well catch on as a standard in the future. Dahlia is a hard bop piece with a Latin feel that would have fit in well on a Blue Note album of the mid-1960s. While there are hints of Joe Henderson and Stanley Turrentine in spots, Fishman plays throughout in his own distinctive style. The atmospheric piece Floating Down has an unusual chord progression (major seventh chords descending in whole steps) and a melody that gives one the impression of a consistently downward motion. The tricky jazz waltz includes a counter-melody played by bassist Hochberg that answers the ideas of Fishman. A downward harmonic pattern is also used as part of New Journey, although primarily as an introduction and transition between soloists. It also acts as an exciting coda to the tune. The medium tempo straight-ahead original finds Fishman s tenor flying effortlessly over the complex harmonies. Boppertunity, like Charlie Parker s Little Willie Leaps, outfits the chord changes of All God s Children Got Rhythm with a new and fresh melody. Greg Fishman takes a hot boppish solo and both Dennis Luxion and Phil Gratteau get to stretch out on this stimulating performance. The Ninth Degree, a modern Brazilian-flavored tune, has Fishman nodding in Stan Getz s direction but in his own distinctive voice, caressing the piece and playing with a great deal of warmth. The final selection, Constellations, opens with shimmering bursts of cymbals, and with the saxophone exploring the harmony in a series of short cadenzas before launching into a straight-ahead swing tune with a harmonic approach worthy of John Coltrane during his Atlantic years (circa 1960). With this album, Greg Fishman and his quartet have created a truly memorable recording, with each musician exploring and discovering musical treasures that will invite the listener to come along on this New Journey. Scott Yanow, jazz journalist/historian and author of 11 books including Bop, The Jazz Singers and Jazz On Record 1917-76