Maximum Jazz Presents Live At The Cellar

They Say...

Review by Dave Nathan, All Music Guide

When Cory Weeds purchased the Cellar, he started to document jazz heard every evening at his Vancouver jazz club. The result is this album with performances by some of Canada's major jazz artists, including several Juno award winners, the Canadian counterpart to the Grammy awards. There are performances by small crack groups headed by pianists, sax players, bassists, guitarists, drummers, and organists. The outcome is music with a variety of textures and rhythms and, therefore, playing styles. Judging from the play list, the Cellar's customers prefer modern jazz and improvisation. There's just one standard on the program, the classic "Tenderly," which receives a thorough working over by Chris Gestrin's trio. James Danderfer's tenor extemporizing, recalling Ben Webster's hushed approach, is the highlight of this track. Then there's the piano of Mike Allen sweeping up and down the keyboard as he works hand-in-glove with bass player Darren Radtke for an almost ten-minute exploration of "From a Different Angle," recalling the work of some of McCoy Tyner's trios. Allen dons his tenor saxophone hat as he joins Bruce Nielsen's quartet for a contemporaneous "House of Crisis," with Nielsen's drums providing a constant rumbling underneath Allen and George McFetridge's zealous pianism. Soprano sax player Jim Pinchin leads his group on a souped-up rendition of "Gumb." The excitement, challenge, and absence of time constraints that come with performing live is apparent on every track. The shortest cut is just under five minutes, with the rest averaging around ten, opening the door for the opportunity for blazing improvisation which everyone takes full advantage of. Recommended.