My review of Drew Gress' The Sky Inside, today at All About Jazz.
Reuniting the same group as his last two releases - 2007's Seven Black Butterflies and 2007's The Irrational Numbers, the ubiquitous bassist continues to mine the chemistry honed over nearly the past decade with saxophonist Tim Berne, pianist Craig Taborn, trumpeter Ralph Alessi and drummer Tom Rainey. Combining cerebral writing with plenty of twists and turns, at times strong (albeit irregularly metered) grooves and space for individual and collective freeplay, it's both a logical follow-up and one that may well be his best yet.
With subtle and tasteful incorporation of electronics, it's an album that may possess certain challenges, but still remains largely accessible. With Taborn an increasingly ubiquitous player like Gress, it also reflects everyone's growth as leaders, with the inevitable consequence being new things to bring back to the table, whenever Gress decides to reconvene the group for a new recording.
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