Search - Stryker-Slagle Band :: Keeper

Keeper - and that is just what this album is!

Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 08/14/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Stryker/Slagle Band has been making their own brand of music - a well informed mix of traditional jazz and modern jazz - for the past twenty-some years. Dave Stryker plays guitar and Steve Slagle plays sax (alto and soprano) and their respect for each other's talent is apparent in the way they play off each other in this, their fifth recording. They are joined by Jay Anderson, bass, and Victor Lewis, drums and having performed together on the last three albums gives ample proof of how well these fine musicians relate. Of note is the absence of keyboards, usually present in jazz ensembles, but that absence is a major plus because it adds a sense of air space to the beauty of Slagle's plaintive playing.



The songs on this album are all composed by either Stryker or Slagle - with one exception: 'Ruby My Dear', one of the real highlights of the album, is by Thelonious Monk. The moods may change form track to track but the over pleasure of hearing these fine musicians play with such surety and skill is a major joy. This is jazz about as perfect as any you're likely to encounter and the Stryker/Slagle Band, at the top of its form, is a major ensemble to be reckoned with! Grady Harp. August 10"