Brian Patneaude is a saxophonist and composer working primarily in the capital district of upstate New York. On this album, he is joined by guitarist Mike Moreno, organist Jesse Chandler and drummer Danny Whelchel. This group gets a very nice modern sound that is far away from the traditional "grits 'n' gravy" organ and tenor sound of the Jimmy Smith and Stanley Turrentine recordings. The album is anchored by Chandler's Sam Yahel like cool toned organ, which along with understated drumming and guitar are constantly inventive throughout, creating great textures.The highlights of this disc for me were the performances of "Jolo" with its sing song melody which zips along with the joy of a Sonny Rollins calypso and supported by a probing organ interlude and cool guitar solo. Drop is another great uptempo performance that has a neon sounding guitar solo, and a strong, lean saxophone solo. The beautiful rendition of Billy Strayhorn's "Chelsea Bridge" is a wonderful piece of restrained beauty, with deep and patient saxophone making this a very memorable performance. This was a very good modern jazz album, the unique textures of the guitar and organ led to excellent opportunities for potent saxophone soloing and full band improvisation. Any fan of mainstream jazz would enjoy this fine disc.Send comments to: Tim
