JEFF JOHNSTON
Nuage
Justin Time
· Jeff Johnston's Toronto trio is joined by saxophonist Dave Liebman and guitarist John Abercrombie.
Who is this soprano sax player – fast and gritty with the burning high register? It doesn't sound like any of the fine Toronto saxophonists I know of, and I am right – it isn't. It turns out to be New York's Dave Liebman, the ’70s-era Miles Davis sideman who has had a brilliant career on the small horn while also mentoring scores of young musicians in his private and institutional teaching at, among other places, The Banff Centre Jazz Workshop.
Jeff Johnston studied with both Liebman and guitarist John Abercrombie at Banff and had long been an admirer of their early bands, Lookout Farm and the Abercrombie Quartet respectively. Johnston's love for the music of the ECM label shines through in his six originals on Nuage, which incorporate that music's tendencies toward more composed rhythm section roles, starkness in concept and some free playing. This is a great album that will stand up to many repeated listenings.
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