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*** GRAND SLAM

untitled

(Telarc)

This supergroup -- of venerable guitar god Jim Hall, multi-reed master Joe Lovano, bassist George Mraz, and drummer Lewis Nash -- recorded these sessions live at the Regattabar in Cambridge, Massachusetts last January. Although Hall is known as a soft-spoken romantic (his plectrum whispering across the strings) and Lovano as a Coltrane-inspired powerhouse, they're both empathic listeners and complete musicians. In fact, some of the knottier stop-and-start asymmetrical compositions on the album, with their built-in free-tempo passages, are by Hall. Each piece is designed to maximize the four-way conversation, especially Hall's hide-and-seek theme for the opener, "Slam." Visual artists often extol "the variety of mark making," and that's what you get here: Hall's steel-drum sound on "Say Hello to Calypso" (an obvious nod to Hall's famous collaboration with another tenor titan, Sonny Rollins), Hall warbling in the low register with Mraz on "Border Crossing," Lovano's well-chosen selection of horns (tenor, soprano, alto, and alto clarinet) and his mix of rhythms and phrasing. The playing is so sympathetic that, while Lovano is soloing on his "Chelsea Rendezvous," you can easily find yourself drawn to Hall, anticipating the off-bop and color of his next chord. Like Hall, the album is soft-spoken; it's the wealth of detail and swing that makes it shout.

-- Jon Garelick