Girl In Green
Big Round, 2020
8/10
The esteemed composer and pianist Paul English brings us some never been heard before renditions of classic tunes, and even some extremely well done originals as his strong soloists help him flesh out the lively jazz of Girl In Green.
“Equinox” gets the album off to a fine start with a John Coltrane tune where Ed Calle and David Liebman trade off on tenor sax solos as crisp percussion help illuminate the jazz setting, and “Beautiful Love” follows with a shuffling pace as Liebman’s sax guides the soulful and playful atmosphere.
In the middle, the Miles Davis tune, “Solar”, finds skittering keys and frisky percussion colliding with quick paced grace, while “One Final Word” adds soprano sax to the festive delivery.
Near the end, “Missing Lady” recruits warm keys and a calmer display of restrained beauty, and Paul English’s original, “Unconditional Surrender”, exits the listen amid soothing piano and cozy soprano sax from Liebman in an almost lounge setting.
A listen rich with instrumentation and beaming with creativity, English handles keys on all tracks splendidly, and the affair unfolds with a healthy amount of precision and liveliness . For being 20 years old (the tracks were lost when a record label folded while in possession of the recordings), Girl In Green sounds very contemporary and glides with an agile timelessness.
Travels well with: Dave Camwell- Second Wind; Fostina Dixon- Vertical Alignment