All About Jazz / NY
June, 2007

Omer Avital / Room To Grow

by Tom Greenland

Opening with the soulful call of the acoustic bass,
Omer Avital’s Room to Grow speaks from and to the
heart with the very first note. Recorded live in early
1997, the album is the second in a series on Smalls
Records documenting the bassist’s growth as an
instrumentalist, composer, arranger and bandleader.
Like its predecessor, Asking No Permission, it features a
four-saxophone sextet, retaining the services of Greg
Tardy (tenor) and Myron Walden (alto) from the
original group, with additional tenor talent provided
by Grant Stewart and Charles Owens, Joe Strasser
filling the drum chair. Without a chordal instrument to
delineate changes, this configuration creates ample
airspace for extended blowing (in- and outside of the
key area) and a platform for Avital to exploit his
compositional chops. His arrangements cushion the
soloists with dramatic flair through the use of solis,
chorales, harmonic pads, shout sections and a variety
of other accompaniment textures, creating extended
numbers that sound like mini-suites, retaining
coherency in spite of their length (the shortest track is
over 16 minutes).
Soloists are given plenty of room to stretch out
and each has something of value to contribute: Owens
plays with authoritative time and compelling
tunefulness on “It’s Alright with Me”; Walden
embodies Eric Dolphy-esque postmodernism on
“26-2”, building from mellow to manic; Stewart gets
busy (without sacrificing clarity) on the same track,
locking in with Strasser for a series of spontaneous
hits; and on “Kentucky Girl”, Tardy develops a
tenderly vibratoed exposition into the kind of solo that
one plays with rolled-up shirt sleeves. Avital’s style
has crystallized somewhat since this period, but the
essential elements are all in evidence here, making this
disc a worthy addition to his catalogue.