Search - Across 7 Street :: Made in New York

5 thousand stars !

Robert I. Bloom | brooklyn, ny USA | 11/20/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"the music on this cd is a revelation & as producer/ engineer luke kaven says in his intro notes- a tonic ! & a portrait too of the pulse and energy of its writers and practioners and the great borough of manhattan( and the club Smalls ) that spawned them--- the music on this incredible cd has the very architecture of this mad crazy swinging place---like ari rolands romp st francis dimes- the teeming city is alive in every striving note and chord - (which are more elaborately delved into by chris byars` detailed liner notes not to mention his rich writing and tenor sax work here ) but this tune ---each musician chipping in with gusto on a roller coaster express ride -u came into smalls and heard a tune like this and the sturm and drang of yer life in this city is transformed instantly--crystallized into a confection of delight & u are carried away ! or chris` twist turny tune back in the cosmos-this trip flips you out --- a tune can take yer spirit and turn it inside out---by the time aris fine bowing digs u a whole new subway line into untold nether regions---and john moscas warm trombone lifts u up only to be further kicked out by a stream of steady rolling kicks and punches from danny rosenfeld drums and as the tune fades off into the horizon- you do too ! yer gone ! thrown back in the cosmos indeed--and dig the way tune number 7 segues so smoothly into the amazing tune d.t.-- standing for dylaN THOMAS as per liner notes--- i love dylan thomas too -he drank himself to death only a few blocks from here and i`ll be damned if i dont hear his drunken crazy determined blustering & haughty poetic soul in this tune -- then sasha perrys dizzying ditty further plays vollley ball w yer already delerious spirit--and the way sashas tune segues into ari`s tune # 10 - called eleven later--- just listen to that ! its beautiful ! - i keep relistening to sections over and over just to feel the fleeting sensations magically & seemingly effortlessly induced ! this music on here reminds you why u love the best of this so called jazz music after all--- its subtle myriad wonderful treasures yield up in yer sensibilities like rewards --uplifting refreshing & revitalizing -like any greatwork of art- you are transformed by exposure !!!! like many others i had the great pleasure of hearing these guys work their magic live at smalls- stepping down those steep stairs into the greatest little underground lair imaginable - hooked and transfixed- for some 6 years ---- going as often as possible---hundreds and hundreds of times never getting enough ! drinking at this fountain of inspired musical wonderment until its recent sad demise --- and listening to this raging cd-- it all comes back--these songs all grew out of and were constantly refined in this fertile crescent ! and for those of you out there who never had the opportunity to groove to the scene there--- u can hear one of its quintessential groups work out their jaunty genius right here----listen to ari`s poignant and pithy melancholy on the last tune- called once-- each man deepening the melody as the tune ambles its loping way deep into yer heart ! the warmth of the horns draw you in and there u go --until those last notes release you---- everything that is great about nyc is in this music --- this is no run of the mill album thrown together by a bunch of musicians thrown together- the humor wit intelligence drive & compassion needed to survive here is infused in this fine elixir ! developed carefully & continually in this club night after night ---these tunes were wrought ! & u can not just listen to this album once---nothing becomes familiar because the drive of each tune-- their momentnum and the momentum they generate in you as u listen - is new each time---it does what all great art can do for those w ears to listen- a constant & never ending source of enlightenment and joy ! check it out and see if this doesnt soothe the soul of the savage beast every time u hear it and then some ! u want to hear the most sophisticated ny generated genius of this whole genre-look no further ! ba da bing ! its all here and the pleasures are endless - bless all of you involved in preserving the great legacy of this musical enterprise !"