Search - Yuri Honing :: Seven

Lucky seven?

William E. Russell | Oakland, CA [Bostonian-in-exile] | 06/30/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"On his seventh CD (containing seven tunes), the Dutch saxophonist is backed by an all-star rhythm section of Paul Bley, Gary Peacock and Paul Motian. Let's hope that this will be the CD that finally gets Honing the attention he deserves! His classic, husky tenor sound is the hook that immediately draws the listener in, but it's the thoughtful, cliché-free development of his solos that will keep you listening. As you might expect from the Bley-Peacock-Motian recordings on ECM, much of this album (the two tenor-piano duets, the tenor-bass-drums trio, and the quartet tracks "Yasutani" and "Vertical") has a chamber-jazz feel-sometimes pensive, sometimes rhapsodic. In terms of its over-all sound, SEVEN belongs as much to the drummer as to the nominal leader; think of it as the best Paul Motian CD since TRIOISM. Many reviewers have praised Tomasz Stanko's disappointing new album, THE SOUL OF THINGS, for its lyricism and spirituality. They should listen to this band, which goes for the same effect...and succeeds. As good as this album is, GAGARIN, with Honing's working trio (Tony Overwater on bass, Joost Lijbaart on drums) may be even better. Although Honing's playing on SEVEN can't be faulted, it's not fully representative of his style; adapting to the chamberish sensibilities of the Bley-Peacock-Motian trio, he never quite cuts loose the way he does with his regular band. The tempos tend to be livelier on GAGARIN, and the playing more overtly passionate; the compositions are also a bit more memorable. STAR TRACKS, another trio album, is not nearly as good, though; the material-mostly pop songs by the likes of ABBA and Sting-just doesn't make the grade. Even so, if you can pick up a cheap copy in the cutout bins, STAR TRACKS is worth buying for the opening track, a ravishing version of Bjork's "Isobel" (ah, if only they had made an entire album of Bjork covers!) I haven't heard Honing's other four CDs (there are two more with the trio, a duet session with Misha Mengelberg, and a trio with Mengelberg and Ernst Reijseger). Perhaps if SEVEN sells a few copies, distributors might consider picking up the rest of Honing's back catalogue..."