Gray, Devin / Dirigo Rataplan
Album: Dirigo Rataplan   Collection:Jazz
Artist:Gray, Devin   Added:May 2012
Label:Skirl  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2012-05-12 Pull Date: 2012-07-15 Charts: Jazz
Week Ending: Jun 3
Airplays: 1

Recent Airplay
1. Aug 04, 2016: Clean Copper Radio
Quadrophonically
3. Jun 01, 2012: No Cover, No Minimum
Down Time
2. Jul 24, 2012: Rebop
Down Time

Album Review
Fo
Reviewed 2012-05-12
DEVIN GRAY: Dirigo Rataplan
Skirl, 2012

AVANT-GARDE – Up-and-coming young drummer hooks up with three veteran improvisers (saxophonist Ellery Eskelin, trumpeter Dave Ballou and bassist Michael Formanek) for a great quartet sound, bold and striking but also very organic and unforced. There are bits of Don Cherry, Henry Threadgill, other influences in here, but the band has its own thing going on, and they’re fresh and vibrant. Interesting work.

All good. Fo’s Picks: 1, 3, 5, 6, 8

1. 6:20 – slouching, spacious: close harmony in theme, then improv dialogue
2. 5:39 – starts as a march in criss-cross lines, but second half is wide-open
3. 9:00 – sneaky walk: trumpet solo roams, sax heads out into empty space
4. 7:00 – slow drift into dissonance, 4-way improv, cool drum solo, slow rise
5. 5:12 – a perky, semi-funky thump holds steady, good horn interplay & bass
6. 6:08 – oozes forward: shapeless stuttering drums, weaving horns & bass
7. 8:36 – mostly slow & brooding, center shifts between duos and solos
8. 6:30 – riffs over a striding beat, but horn solos really open it up

[ Fo ] - May 2012

Track Listing
1. Quadrophonically   5. Talking With Hands
2. Cancel The Cancel   6. Otaka
3. Down Time   7. Thickets
4. Prospect Park In The Dark   8. Katahdin