Cadence
The review of jazz & blues: creative improvised music
August 1995

JON BALLANTYNE, THE LOOSE
JUSTIN TIME 65
Serenity/The Loose/ Monk’s Mood/ R.S.V. P/ Ballad IV/Ornithology/ M Dewey D/
Search/ Duke’s Choice/ I Fall In Love Too Easily.
Ballantyne, p; Drew Gress, B; Billy Hart, D. Apr 1994, NYC

McCoy Tyner and Thelonious Monk seem to meet in Jon Ballantyne’s style. Of course that is an oversimplification but the versatile Ballantyne ranges from the moody “M. Dewey D” and a dissonant “Omithology” to a tradeoff of blues choruses on “The Loose” (with drummer Billy Hart) has aspects of both innovators in his own playing. Playing five originals and such obscurities as Joe Henderson’s “Serenity” and Charles Mingus’ “Duke’s Choice,” Ballantyne constructs a thoughtful and often introspective but always swinging program of music with the strong assistance of Hart and bassist Drew Gress,

Words & Music

NEW RECORDINGS: A selection of recent releases in jazz.

February 1995

Jon Ballantyne-THE LOOSE
Justin Time

Monk, Mingus and Charlie Parker each get a nod on The Loose, but New York based Juno-winner Jon Ballantyne keeps the focus on his own well-tailored compositions. The 10-song set gives rein to the composer’s fascination with rhythm, reflected both in his own adept playing and that of his sidemen, drummer Billy Hart and bassist Drew Gress, who get ample room to stretch out.