{"id":10421,"date":"2018-10-18T21:19:39","date_gmt":"2018-10-19T04:19:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/?p=10421"},"modified":"2018-10-18T21:19:39","modified_gmt":"2018-10-19T04:19:39","slug":"recent-listening-quartette-oblique","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/2018\/10\/recent-listening-quartette-oblique\/","title":{"rendered":"Recent Listening: Quartette Oblique"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Michael Stephans, David Liebman, Marc Copland, Drew Gress:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2Cn6X9g\"><em>Quartette Oblique<\/em><\/a> (Sunnyside)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Quartette-Oblique.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-10422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Quartette-Oblique.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"376\" height=\"376\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Quartette-Oblique.jpg 436w, https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Quartette-Oblique-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Quartette-Oblique-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Quartette-Oblique-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Quartette-Oblique-200x200.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 376px) 100vw, 376px\" \/><\/a>Opening the album, Liebman launches the familiar opening phrases of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Nardis\u00e2\u20ac\u009d from his tenor saxophone, toying with them, letting each note fall away. The rhythm section soon joins him. Within seconds the toying is over and the album\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s muscles are rippling in a show of strength that for more than an hour does not recede, regardless of tempo. The energy is in great part due to Liebman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s intensity on tenor and soprano saxophones, but drummer Stephans, pianist Copland and bassist Gress are in league with him through every track. The quartet\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s responses to one another are instantaneous. Their empathy is deep, almost palpable. The audience at the Deer Head Inn in Pennsylvania\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Poconos Mountains is so attentive that the quality of their listening becomes a part of the room\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p>The album rewards close listening to its two Miles Davis pieces, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Nardis\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153So What,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d but also to the late guitarist John Abercrombie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Vertigo,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and Duke Ellington\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153In a Sentimental Mood.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Gress enhances the contemplativeness of his composition \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Vesper\u00e2\u20ac\u009d with a bass solo that elevates the thoughtful mood. Copland\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shimmering piano on the piece melds into Liebman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s quiet, deep, improvisation on tenor, as opposed to the controlled frenzy that he generates on tenor and soprano sax elsewhere in this rewarding album. Nowhere is he more contained or, by contrast, more expansive, than in Dietz and Schwartz\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s imperishable 84-year-old \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You And The Night And The Music.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The piece highlights a quartet album that is itself a highlight.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">#<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">As always music arrives daily, seemingly by the truckload. It would be impossible to hear it all. Nonetheless, additional reports on selected&#8221;\u00a0<strong>Recent Listening<\/strong> are soon to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Michael Stephans, David Liebman, Marc Copland, Drew Gress: Quartette Oblique (Sunnyside) Opening the album, Liebman launches the familiar opening phrases of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Nardis\u00e2\u20ac\u009d from his tenor saxophone, toying with them, letting each note fall away. The rhythm section soon joins him. Within seconds the toying is over and the album\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s muscles are rippling in a show [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10421","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10421\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}