Search - The Mark Fechner Jazz Experience :: Wing It

The Mark Fechner Jazz Experience Wing It Mark Fechner~Alto & Tenor Saxophone Pat Keiner~Guitar * Jeff Hansel~Bass * Bret Sher~drums(S-SSD 0065) To experience Mark Fechner is to experience his ensemble, "The Mark Fechner Jazz Experience." For the past 15 years Mark Fechner has worked in and around Chicago, from club to concert hall. He sites fellow Chicago great Johnny Griffin as a main influence, but when you ask him about his favorite reed players, his face lights up like a Michigan Ave. bridge... there are so MANY. Fechner plays the tenor and alto sax both with speed, fire and a sense of new romanticism that is missing in alot of today's practitioners. With his metal mouthpiece and "fat" sound Fechner attacks both ballad and uptempo selections without hesitation. Silence and melody merge as he leads his ensemble. The recording studio is an extension of the club as Fechner's working ensemble can testify. Guitarist Pat Keiner has a unique sound that blends forms effortlessly. Bassist Jeff Hansel, on electric and acoustic likes to mix swing with soul, and jazz with latin. Drummer Bret Sher is the groove man with a mission. Like the classic Rudy Van Gelder (Blue Note recording engineer) sessions of the 50's and 60's this CD was recorded direct. No overdubs, just a living record of Mark and his ensemble as they chase their dream into the next century. So check out track #2, the Joe Zawinul classic "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" as Mark and the ensemble dig into a revised soulful 60's groove, or cut #11, the impressive and percussive "Caravan" executed with a new twist. Chicago is the city of big horns, and a part of the poetry and music of Mark Fechner. Dig it?