Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Jason Palmer: Live From Summit Rock In Seneca Village

Jason Palmer: Live From Summit Rock In Seneca Village

By Jack Bowers
July 15, 2022
View read count

Jason Palmer: Live From Summit Rock In Seneca Village

With Covid-19 generally having had its way in recent years, shuttering many venues at which jazz musicians were accustomed to performing, it is a pleasure to hear an actual concert with a real live audience—even if the group is a piano-less quartet striving to hold its listeners' interest through five extended numbers whose collective playing time is over an hour. Trumpeter

Jason Palmer

trumpet
b.1979

" data-original-title="" title="">Jason Palmer's ensemble was recorded outdoors in May 2021 at the historic Seneca Village site in New York City's Central Park.

Palmer is an excellent technician, as is his front-line partner, tenor saxophonist

Mark Turner

saxophone, tenor
b.1965

" data-original-title="" title="">Mark Turner, while the rhythm section (bassist

Edward Perez

bass, acoustic
b.1978

" data-original-title="" title="">Edward Perez, drummer

Johnathan Blake

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Johnathan Blake) is generally apt and supportive. Even so, there is only so much a quartet—even a very good one—can do to dramatize a series of well-drawn yet largely analogous compositions which rely for the most part on sprawling solos that are invariably efficient but no more remarkable than those performed by contemporary groups in a variety of settings on a daily basis. It is a pity they could not have squeezed a piano onto that stage.

Three of Palmer's themes are dedicated to painters, two of whom (Rembrandt, Degas) are well-known. A third, "Landscape with an Obelisk (Flinck)" was presumably written to honor someone named Flinck, and that could well be the Dutch artist Govert Flinck (1615- 1660). "Program for an Artistic Soiree (Degas)," which closes the album, enfolds some of the concert's more forceful passages yet, here again, there is little to uncouple it from what has come before—theme, lengthy solos, coda. There is some slight variation, as on the opener, "Falling In," the first three minutes of which are devoted to Palmer's unaccompanied trumpet, but that is the exception, not the rule (even though Palmer opens the soft-flowing "Kalispel Bay" with a briefer a cappella statement, while Perez's unaccompanied bass introduces Rembrandt's easygoing "Self Portrait").

Live from Summit Rock is long on virtuosity, as one would expect from musicians of this caliber, yet short on the kind of singularity that would enable it to stand apart from comparable enterprises. That is not to say it is less than proficient, only that the all- important charisma quotient is a tad less than optimal. Aside from that, this is an admirable concert in which everyone gives the music its due.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Falling In; Landscape With An Obelisk (Flinck); Kalispel Bay; Self Portrait (Rembrandt); Program For An Artistic Soiree (Degas).

Personnel

Jason Palmer

trumpet

Mark Turner

saxophone, tenor

Edward Perez

bass, acoustic

Johnathan Blake

drums

Album information

Title: Live From Summit Rock In Seneca Village | Year Released: 2022 | Record Label: Giant Step Arts

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Odd Bird
< Previous

Trios, Duos and Solos
Next >

Jason Palmer Concerts

Oct 8 Wed

Jason Palmer Quartet

Duc Des Lombards
Paris, France

Oct 8 Wed

Jason Palmer Quartet

Duc Des Lombards
Paris, France

Oct 9 Thu

Jason Palmer Quartet

Duc Des Lombards
Paris, France

Oct 9 Thu

Jason Palmer Quartet

Duc Des Lombards
Paris, France

Oct 15 Wed

Jason Palmer Quartet

Ronnie Scott's
London, UK

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.