Bagatellen.com
Feb 18, 2007

Ned Goold / March of the Malcontents
Smalls Records SRCD-0019
by Derek Taylor

Saxophonist Ned Goold’s first disc for Smalls comprised a collection of trio performances taped at his employer Harry Connick’s gigs. March of the Malcontents switches the setting to studio and adds Sacha Perry to the equation, a pianist mentored by the late Frank Hewitt and possessive of deep bebop by way of Bud Powell roots. It’s also apparently the last title to carry the classic Smalls look of pastel scripts in vivid reds, blues and purples against a black backdrop. I’m not as enamored with the new design style of solid colors and abstract lines on subsequent releases, but such cosmetic preferences invariably seem trite in light of the music.

At over 76-minutes the generously sequenced program of originals and standards displays Goold’s singular saxophonics at length and in detail. Bassist Neal Caine, who routinely seems to channel the musical mien of Wilbur Ware, and Goold’s son Charles on drums complete the quartet. Goold’s outward resemblance to the late Charlie Rouse in charcoal dry tone and a serpentine style of phrasing is often uncanny. The rhythmic and harmonic complexities of Warne Marsh are another easy set of dots to connect and Goold shares a fair bit in common with his label colleague Stephen Riley. His 12-tone derived improvisations thread temperately through the tunes, materializing in slippery, sometimes willfully smudged modulations that don’t subscribe to predictable harmonic trajectories.

Perry is a master at complementing such expositions with a comping style that accents and punctuates, but doesn’t interfere. The younger Goold’s rhythms sometimes sound a bit staid by comparison, but he keeps steady snare and cymbal-centered time. Swing in a conventional guise is frequently just an afterthought. These four players are after something far more personal and intimate, sourcing subtle eccentricities that invest each track with reliable replay value. Notorious as an unsparingly candid self-critic, Goold’s hair shirt looks increasingly threadbare when viewed in light of the excellence of what’s here.

~ Derek Taylor

From Bagatellen http://www.bagatellen.com/archives/reviews/001598.html