STRYKERT AND SLAGLET

KEEPER

2010-07-15

Dave Strykert and Saxophonist Steve Slaglet are on their fifth album together. ”Keeper” are on their fifth album together. ”Keeper” is the third with Jay Anderson on bass and Victor Lewis on drums. These artists compliment each other in terms of method and talent. I hear a blend of straight ahead jazz with more progressive sound baked into a fine mix. There is passion and you ride from bebop like on “ Sister” and “Convergence” to the mellow and smooth like “Bryce’s Peace” and “Ruby my Dear”, which is a Thelonious Monk tune and the only one they didn’t compose. In jazz, guitar and saxophone often vie with each other to be the main voice. Strykert and Slaglet find balance and more than that, a wonderful easy kind of intersection that makes this cd fun to hear. A bonus is the tracks are a very playable length. To me the excitement of seeing jazz performed can make a 10 minute song feel like a brief interlude but it not on recordings. This cd has a much more realistic time scale, one that works better for radio and (probably just me) attention span when you don’t have the artist right there with you. – Anne Lamont

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