Recommended: Hush Point – “III”

A pleasant straight-ahead session from the Hush Point quartet of trumpeter John McNeil, saxophonist Jeremy Udden, bassist Aryeh Kobrinsky and drummer Anthony Pinciotti.  The recording comes off as an intimate affair, and the proof of this is how the quartet’s subdued restraint radiates all kinds of warmth.  Rather than go for the fireworks, the quartet steers the conversation with little personality quirks, and it makes straight-forward dialog something more interesting.  The best example of this on their new release III is the three-part “Suite” and how some cool blues bop and modern post-bop wandering comes off as fashioned from the same lexicon and breathed out in one continuous sentence.  And then there’s a track like “Azmari Bar,” where the Ethiopian music influence and sudden burst of controlled fury is yet able to flow seamlessly into the album’s overall confluence of sound.  That the quartet is able to bring about a sense of cohesion in these circumstances says a lot about the strength of the musicians and the benefits of the long-term collaboration between them.

Your album personnel:  John McNeil (trumpet), Jeremy Udden (alto & c-melody saxophones), Aryeh Kobrinsky (bass) and Anthony Pinciotti (drums).

Released on Sunnyside Records.

Listen to more of the album at the label’s Bandcamp page.

Music from NYC.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon | eMusic