Nachoff combines the sax trio tradition of freewheeling improvisation and the discipline of a classical string quartet.

Toronto/NY saxophonist-composer Nachoff combines the sax trio tradition of freewheeling improvisation and the discipline of a classical string quartet into an original aesthetic. Most of the music was composed before 2000, when Nachoff met and played with drummer Jim Black at the Banff Centre and decided Black's textures and grooves would be perfect for the music. Later he became familiar with bassist Mark Helias's work, and eventually invited Black, Helias, and Montreal violinist Nathalie Bonin to Toronto to perform and record the music. Bonin chose the other string players from among Montreal's young classical elite.

With Helias acting as the bridge between the classical and improvisational worlds, Bonin sometimes improvising too (e.g. 'Branches'), and Black often laying down a rockish 8th note beat, the music took on its definitive shape and emotional charge, with some great solos (e.g. Black's in 'Sun-Day,' as well as Helias's solo with the strings). Nachoff's saxophone inhabits the music's melodic and harmonic heart, his singing lines demonstrating the expressive range, fluency and cohesion of a mature, thoughtful improviser.

Analogue recording mixed in 24/88.2 to stereo and 5.0.

Track Listing

• There & Back
• To Solar Piazza
• How Postmodern of Me
• October
• Branches
• Circles & Waves
• Whorls
• Sun-Day

Additional Details

Label: Songlines

Genre: Jazz

Run Time: 70 mins

Release Date: 01/10/06

UPC: 774355155622