Billy Hart

The second ECM album by the Billy Hart Quartet is a major musical statement, and one of the outstanding jazz albums of the season. The group’s reach – already broad on 2011’s widely-acclaimed All Our Reasons – is yet more expansive here. Strong compositions – by leader-drummer Billy Hart, tenorist Mark Turner and pianist Ethan Iverson – reflect upon a wide swathe of the music’s history, and are distinguished by vivid and imaginative solos and wonderful interplay. A basic premise, that this should be a band in which the vastly-experienced Billy Hart gets to play everything he wants to play, has led to a sense of almost unlimited possibility for all participants. There is freedom and joy in this music, and tenderness, too.

PERSONNEL:

Mark Turner tenor saxophone
Ethan Iverson piano
Ben Street double bass
Billy Hart drums

Recorded April 29-May 1, 2013 at Avatar Studios, NY

TRACKS:

01. Lennie Groove
02. Maraschino
03. Teule's Redemption
04. Amethyst
05. Yard
06. Sonnet for Stevie
07. Some Enchanted Evening
08. Big Trees