Dan Cray - Outside In (2016)

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Genre: Mainstream Jazz

GAB's Rating: ★★★★☆

For his second release on Origin, New York pianist Dan Cray draws on the inspiration he received from a year spent living and working out in the Sierras and hiking in Big Sur. With rising star Dayna Stephens on saxophone, along with drummer Mark Ferber and Cray's longtime bandmate, bassist Clark Sommers, Cray's mix of his own compositions and arrangements of several rarely heard standards offer a meditation on nature and the search for peace wherever you are. "This music engages both mind and spirit, not changing the world so much as brightening the day." Downbeat

Piano jazz inspired by a year of hanging out in Big Sur and it's environs, it's no wonder all those 50s jazzbos liked hanging around San Francisco. Playing with a wide openness that's new to his artillery, Cray's added colors and textures bring his New York vibe somewhere else indeed. Tasty, laid back sitting down jazz, Cray is on a roll. Well done.  Chris Spector

01.Small Sir 5:34
02.Where Springs 6:01
03.A Flower is a Lovesome Thing 7:06
04.Oblivion 5:47
05.OdP (Bird of Paradise) 5:42
06.Outside In 5:18
07.Where Are You 7:07

Dan Cray - piano
Dayna Stephens - tenor saxophone
Clark Sommers - bass
Mark Ferber - drums

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