CD ECM Records Ralph Alessi: Quiver

2016

Ralph Alessi - trompeta
Gary Versace - pian
Drew Gress - contrabas
Nasheet Waits - tobe


Trumpeter Ralph Alessi’s ECM leader debut – 2013’s Baida – was the album where “everything came together for him,” according to Nate Chinen in a JazzTimes profile. “Without abandoning his yen for oppositional energies, it’s a beautifully coherent statement, not just his most accomplished album but a contender for one of the year’s best.” Baida indeed went on to become the most lauded release of Alessi’s career, with The New York Times praising the music for its balance of “elegant precision and power.” With Quiver, Alessi teams with pianist Gary Versace and the trumpeter’s longtime rhythm section of choice – bassist Drew Gress and drummer Nasheet Waits – to create a follow-up of quicksilver melodicism and subtly energized rhythm; there is a lyricism to Alessi’s playing that channels such forebears as Miles Davis and Kenny Wheeler, the mood reflective, even pensive. As DownBeat says, “Alessi works between the notes, his thoughtful, conversational solos as meditative as a calligrapher’s art, each line free-flowing and declarative but with immaculate shape and beauty.”



With its wistful, melancholic tone and loose but intensely focused playing from four front-rank Americans – pianist Gary Versace, bassist Drew Gress and drummer Nasheet Waits – there is also a resemblance to another great trumpet quartet record – Kenny Wheeler’s ‘Gnu High’ – made for the same label 40 years ago but that is to pay ‘Quiver’ the highest of compliments.
Cormac Larkin, Irish Times

Alessi’s compositions here are of a very high quality, and their connection to the improvisational passages is both seamless and organic. The rhythm section of Nasheet Waits and Drew Gress are highly responsive yet unobtrusive with it. In his solos Alessi creates a tension between a tender, lyrical tonality and a pointed dissonance that has echoes of the late Kenny Wheeler. It is perhaps a more accessible side to this trumpeter than we have heard to date, as well as being a thoroughly outstanding piece of work.
Selwyn Harris, Jazzwise

The entire atmosphere here, where Alessi is playing muted or open in his horn, is of panoramic serenity. Even slightly kinetic pieces such as ‘Here Tomorrow’ are held together by Alessi’s warm horn as Waits sticks create some sharp angles. On ‘Window Goodbyes’ and ‘Heist’ Versace’s piano delivers some added romance to Alessi’s lyrical tone, and as the leader puts on his Harmon for ‘Gone Today, Here Tomorrow,’ the mix of Waits’ rumble and Versace’s drapery makes for wistful listening. Gress’ bass is patient and tender, forming a gentle pulse throughout as a gentle guide as on ‘I to I’, keeping things on a slight slope.
George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly

The trumpeter seems to have found an ideal venue, his penchant for the oblique statement and ventilated ensemble nicely couched in a pristine recording and a magical ensemble. Alessi’s compositions have an allusive vibe, less outright statements than skeletons on which the band drapes its sounds […] The quality of bold indirectness that makes ‘Quiver’ so exceptional is also integral to Alessi’s playing. He can squeeze a run like a lemon, juicing a melody into a little pool of liquid, or he may croon as on ‘Heist’, growing animated but never brash, always reaching for refreshing notes.
John Corbett, Downbeat