Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Jerry Bergonzi - Dog Star (SAVANT 2017)


Jerry Bergonzi has been making records for decades – yet lately, he seems to be finding an even fresher way forward – with a set like this that can grab us right from the very first note, and having us get excited all over again about his music! Bergonzi's tenor sound is tremendous – that raw tone that's been building up right from the start – but maybe the strongest element here is the group, which seems to have this soaring vision that's even more than the sum of its parts – driven on by this excellent presence on bass from Johnny Aman, whose dark notes really color the music, and open up the moodiest side of Bergonzi's music – alongside the excellent Carl Winther on piano, who wrote songs on the record alongside Jerry – plus Phil Grenadier on trumpet, and Anders Mogensen on drums. The trumpet/tenor pairing, quite familiar in jazz, somehow manages to find all these new places throughout – bursting out beautifully on titles that include "Pleiades", "Dog Star", "Darkness", "Live Stream", "Vertigo", and "Repor-Pa-Int".

1. Pleiades 9:56
2. Dog Star 5:27
3. Vertigo 5:59
4. Live Stream 5:51
5. Repore-Pa-int 10:37
6. Darkness 4:10
7. Separated 8:00
8. Darf 4:39

Jerry Bergonzi, tenor saxophone
Phil Grenadier, trumpet
Carl Winther, piano
Johnny Åman, bass
Anders Mogensen, drums