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The Ryan Oliver Quartet: Strive!

By Dan Bilawsky
May 1, 2014
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When Toronto-based tenor saxophonist

Ryan Oliver

saxophone, tenor

" data-original-title="" title="">Ryan Oliver was living in New York and studying at Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of The Arts in New Jersey, he struck up a musical relationship with one of the teachers at that institution—drummer

Victor Lewis

drums
b.1950

" data-original-title="" title="">Victor Lewis. At that time, Lewis, a somewhat underappreciated giant of the drumming world who's worked with everybody from saxophone legend

Stan Getz

saxophone, tenor
1927 - 1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Stan Getz to trumpeter

Woody Shaw

trumpet
1944 - 1989

" data-original-title="" title="">Woody Shaw to pianist

Kenny Barron

piano
b.1943

" data-original-title="" title="">Kenny Barron, got together with Oliver on a weekly basis, exploring the relationship between saxophone and drums in a duo setting. Those experiences helped to open whole new musical worlds for Oliver, and they planted the seed for this project.

On Strive!, Lewis, Oliver, and two of the saxophonist's hometown collaborators—bassist Alex Coleman and pianist

Gary Williamson

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Gary Williamson—take a trip through nine originals. The quartet kicks things off with the title track, an up-tempo swinger that gives Oliver and Lewis a chance to trade. Rubato romancing comes next, as "Thousand Miles" touches on

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane-esque daydreaming, but strict time is back when "Eddie" arrives; that tune, with its funky underpinnings and irresistible groove, must take its name from saxophonist

Eddie Harris

saxophone, tenor
1934 - 1996

" data-original-title="" title="">Eddie Harris.

Lewis ushers in "Victory," providing a spark of excitement that lights everybody up, but the next number—"For You"—is all about Oliver. This ballad, capped off with a beautiful cadenza from the saxophonist, is a real treat. A NOLA-infused blues comes next, followed by "Less Travelled," which finds Lewis in

Elvin Jones

drums
1927 - 2004

" data-original-title="" title="">Elvin Jones mode at first. The album then comes to its conclusion with the waltzing-and-driving "Taurus" and the subdued-but-grooving "Ready Roll."

Oliver's middleweight tenor sound—not small at all, and not too big and brawny—is forward and direct. He's not an aggressive player per se, but he's an assured and engaging improvisor with plenty to say that's worth hearing. Strive! certainly testifies to that fact.

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Track Listing

Strive!; Thousand Miles; Eddie; Victory; For You; Crescent City Stomp; Less Traveled; Taurus; Ready Roll.

Personnel

Ryan Oliver

saxophone, tenor

Ryan Oliver: tenor saxophone; Victor Lewis: drums; Gary Williamson: piano; Alex Coleman: bass.

Album information

Title: Strive! | Year Released: 2014 | Record Label: Self Produced

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