Search - Rick Stone and Oliver Von Essen Al Ashley with Dave Leibman :: These Are Them

Multitalented drummer Al Ashley steps out front to make his recording debut as a bandleader on These Are Them, a satisfying straight ahead effort featuring organist Oliver Von Essen, guitarist Rick Stone and special guest, master saxophonist David Liebman, who makes his first ever appearance with an organ trio on the date. Ashley kicks off the date wilh two originals; "Blue Note," a straight ahead cooker with a simple but catchy melody, and the quirky samba "These Are Them." Two originals by Von Essen follow; "Perfect Day" featuring Leibman on tenor sax is a relaxed outing delineated by Ashley's loping rhythm, and "The Other Time" a contemporary sounding waltz that begins with the trio in a Milesian mode before Liebman states the pretty melody on soprano. Rick Stone's "Relative" Minority is a hard bopping original. Liebman plays the melody on tenor with Stone's guitar before the latter takes off on his own with a swinging solo. Ashley's "Fats Write" is an uptempo tune which features Liebman's soprano and Stone's guitar plus an extended organ solo by Von Essen, all driven by the leader's dynamic drumming. The disc concludes with Dave Liebman's composition Look At What We Do To Ourselves. Ashley contributes some explosive drumming to this tour de force for the composer's tenor, which modulates from an attractively warm sound to a frightening dark intensity just before the piece fades into oblivion. These Are Them is an impressive debut recording as a leader from a versatile veteran sideman who has put a lifetime of experience to extremely good use in assembling and directing his newly formed band through a varied program of original material. Al Ashley has managed to meld the individual talents of relative newcomers Rick Stone and Oliver Von Essen with the seasoned sound of the mature master Dave Liebman into a truly cohesive unit. ln allowing each musician the free rein to express himself musically, as well as the opportunity to contribute compositionally to the proceedings (in the tradition of great leaders like Art Blakey and Philly Joe Jones), Ashley has gotten the most out of the members of his fine group. Listeners who miss the glory days of labels like Blue Note would do well to check out this date. There's no need to pine for the music of the good old days because with Al Ashley around, "These Are Them."