Art of Jazz Review

Written by David Fujino - The Live Music Report

June 7, 2009

Rashied Ali Quintet at The Art of Jazz

Trinity Stage • Toronto

A report by David Fujino with photo by Mike Colyer The Rashied Ali Quintet was all about building on the memories and sounds of late 60's John Coltrane, with a slight twist.

Ali has younger players with him.

Like Josh Evans, whose trumpet had all the energy and hard-playing technique of the recently departed Freddie Hubbard.

Or tenor saxophonist Lawrence Clark who insistently kept dissecting the music's flow into smaller modular groupings of notes.

Or pianist Greg Murphy who fell victim to the sound technicians but nevertheless came through with affirming melodic elaborations and necessary tonal guideposts. Unfortunately the veterans, bass player Don Paton and drummer Ali, didn't fare as well, either, in terms of being 'under mic'-ed.

But all this aside, in Ali's [sic] tune, "Skane's Refrain", a drum solo became an effective rhythmic crux for the later piano inventions of Greg Murphy and the seeking trumpet of Evans.

And in Coltrane's "Central Park West", the veteran Don [Pate's] deep-toned pizzicato bass feature was prelude to the soberly stated trumpet/tenor theme. The solos from an inquisitive trumpet and Clark's contemplative tenor stood out in this tune.

Now, Rashied Ali's a veteran drummer who's worked with people like John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, and Jackie McLean — and he can lay claim to a place in jazz history — for during Coltrane's last days, Ali recorded a series of inspiring cosmic-themed duets with the master saxophonist...