The Vortex Jazz Club, 11 Gillett Square, London N16 8JH | Bookings 020 7254 4097 | Enquiries 020 7993 3643 | Email Info at Vortex

CD reviews

New cd releases

 

Browse CD reviews

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z 

Join the Vortex
email list

To receive monthly gig details, news and ticket offers.



RSS feeds

For news, gig and CD reviews and information about the club.

Click on the link below to get the subscribe address
Vortex news

For more informaton about RSS see the
RSS help pages

Tony Kofi Quartet

The Silent Truth

Specific Jazz SPEC008

Returning to the line-up that made the Monk-themed album All is Know four years ago Æ Tony Kofi on various saxophones, pianist Jonathan Gee, bassist Ben Hazleton, drummer Winston Clifford Æ celebrates, according to Kofi himself, the fact that the group sound has 'solidified' since that first recording.

If by this he means that the band has gained in confidence and interacts easily but powerfully, he is immediately vindicated by the album's opener, 'Giants'. a vigorous, celebratory piece spearheaded by his own highly individual-sounding alto.

Kofi's is an attractively distinctive saxophone approach, tart and even querulous at fast tempos, but also capable of producing great beauty ('First Breath', inspired by the birth of his son, is almost Hodges-like in its searing purity) or rhapsodic passion ('Inner Truth', with its classsic-quartet-period Coltrane-ish feel) where appropriate.

Gee is similarly versatile, funkily bluesy or meditatively lyrical as required, and with an excellent rhythm section never allowing the musical intensity to flag for a second, this is a gripping, pleasingly varied album that showcases a fierce, hard-driving but sensitive band capable of composing (Kofi wrote six pieces, Gee and Hazleton two each) a wide-ranging but satisfyingly homogeneous set of originals that together make up a highly accomplished programme. Recommended.