...Hamar achieves the balance of thoughtfulness and risk-taking that characterizes the most successful jazz ventures.
Following last year's "Hymn," which featured the Seattle bassist in an intimate trio with saxophonist Todd DelGiudice and pianist Geoff Keezer, Hamar hits here with an open-ended, double saxophone quartet. DelGiudice returns on alto and he's matched with the remarkable New York tenor saxophonist, Rich Perry, who together provide wide-ranging contrapuntal intrigue for Hamar and drummer Julian MacDonough to play against. "Idyl Wild" properly suggests the musical landscape of this new collection - a controlled burn, slow simmer, extravagance or beauty with a hint of volitilty, carefree risk-taking laden with abundant opportunity.
Track Listing:
1 Jump Off Joe 7:59
2 Prospect Park West 9:19
3 Idyl Wild 7:28
4 Champagne Sparkle 8:58
5 Curly 5:15
6 Waxy 8:35
7 Abide With Me 6:40
Performers:
Rich Perry - tenor saxophone
Todd DelGiudice - alto saxophone
Jon Hamar - bass
Julian MacDonough - drums
Production Info:
Produced by Jon Hamar
Recorded by Chris Spencer
at SophiaHat Studio, Seattle, WA
October 19-20, 2012
Assisted by Tom Prather
Mixed by David Lange at David Lange Studio, Edgewood, WA
Mastered by Ross Nyberg at Nyberg Mastering, Issaquah, WA
Cover photo by Danny Englander
Jon Hamar photo by Steve Korn
Cover design & layout by John Bishop
Reviews of Idyl Wild
Midwest Record (Chris Spector)
Casting off the Geoff Keezer penumbra of his last album, this time around he replaces piano with double sax for a bass/drum/sax jazz quartet that knows how to offer up a low key hipsters delight. Not needing pyrotechnics to catch fire, this crew keeps the fire on a simmer that just doesn?t burn out or boil off. Sweet stuff for real finger popping ...
emusic (Dave Sumner)
Likable quartet session from bassist Hamar, who runs with the double saxophone attack of tenor man Rich Perry and altoist Todd DelGiudice. With Julian MacDonough rounding out the rhythm section, it?s a nice set of straight-ahead jazz. Some post-bop burn, some hard bop bounce, and tracks that keep throwing pitches within the strike zone. ...
Jazz Society of Oregon (George Fendel)
The versatile bassist Jon Hamar has established himself as one of Seattle?s first call bass players over the last few years. For this rather unusual session, he leads a quartet with two saxophones, bass and drums. One of the saxmen, Rich Perry, has been a formidable presence in New York for quite a while. This session marks something of a detour fo ...
