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Alexander McCabe: Quiz

By Dan McClenaghan
September 25, 2010
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Alto saxophonist/composer Alexander McCabe returns from a five-year recording hiatus with the swinging, accessible, and sometimes surprisingly adventurous Quiz.

The Round (Wamco Music, 2005), McCabe's previous offering, was a superb mainstream set, with a hint of the Irish barroom on the title tune. Quiz once again displays the artist's mainstream frame of mind in a vibrant ensemble featuring pianist

Uri Caine

piano
b.1956

" data-original-title="" title="">Uri Caine, bassist

Ugonna Okegwo

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Ugonna Okegwo, and drummers

Gregory Hutchinson

drums
b.1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Gregory Hutchinson and

Rudy Royston

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Rudy Royston. Where The Round had a more traditional jazz atmosphere, Quiz pushes those boundaries more, with the leader's sax giving off a more wildly-searching vibe, in the mode of

Jackie McLean

saxophone, alto
1932 - 2006

" data-original-title="" title="">Jackie McLean and

Eric Dolphy

woodwinds
1928 - 1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Eric Dolphy, on a set of five McCabe originals and two covers.

But it's straight-ahead on the opener, "Weezie," a bright, sunny swinger—sometimes a waltz, sometimes not. On "Lonnegan," McCabe cranks up the intensity factor a couple of notches, with some searing alto and a boiling rhythm. Caine gets an ebulliently nuanced turn on the keys. The release's title tune begins by prowling shadowy streets, gathering energy as it pushes ahead into brighter territory.

The disc's centerpiece and highlight, the standard "Good Morning Heartache," begins with rolling thunderclouds in the mode of

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane's Impulse! Records Quartet with

McCoy Tyner

piano
1938 - 2020

" data-original-title="" title="">McCoy Tyner,

Elvin Jones

drums
1927 - 2004

" data-original-title="" title="">Elvin Jones and

Jimmy Garrison

bass, acoustic
1934 - 1976

" data-original-title="" title="">Jimmy Garrison, before gelling into freewheeling fluidity, with McCabe at his most inspired. The quartet, with a spontaneous interplay, explores the beauty of the familiar tune before McCabe takes thing out, with an interlude of anguish.

"St. Pat" is a funky beatification, with McCabe's sharp lines and Caine's free-flying piano work, and the closer, "How Little We Know" brings things back to the straight-ahead mode with a casual rhythmic restraint behind McCabe's tangy alto.

Quiz is step forward for Alexander McCabe, an excellent mainstream—and sometimes not quite mainstream—offering.

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Track Listing

Weezie's Waltz; Lonnegan; Kalido; Quiz; Good Morning Heartache; St. Pat; How Little We Know.

Personnel

Alexander McCabe

saxophone, alto

Alexander McCabe: alto saxophone; Uri Caine: piano; Ugonna Okegwo: bass; Rudy Royston: drums (1, 4-7); Greg Hutchinson: drums (2, 3).

Album information

Title: Quiz | Year Released: 2010 | Record Label: Consolidated Artists Productions

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