Jazz Canadiana – Picks
Spring,  2001

Jon Ballantyne 4tets+Dewey Redman

r.a.w. 1001

Saskatcewan-born pianist Jon Ballantyne, now a resident in New York City, is joined here by Dewey Redman – tenor/alto, Douglas Yates – bass clarinet/alto, Jeff Hirshfield – drums on tracks 5 to 10, Gene Jackson – drums on tracks 1 to 4 & 11, and Boris Kozlov – bass on quintet renderings of 11 Ballantyne originals. The music is full of surprises, ranging from the discursive ride between tenor/bass clarinet on the opening “Round Again”, a fragmented, polyrhythmic “Interlude” (drums only) leading to the bitter/sweet sax with “In Dew Time”, the pulsating and propulsive “Go Local” to the dramatic materializing of the timeless beauty in “Anne’s Dream”, the delicately detailed simplicity of “N Chant”. There are no cliches here. Warrants repeated listening. JS