Across 7 Street / Made in New York
Coda Magazine, March-April 2005
By Duck Baker

Across 7 Street is a quintet of musicians who used to congregate at the NYC club called Smalls and now are recording for the label that has taken that name. They appeared on an Impulse CD "Jazz Underground: Live at Smalls" some time ago but were given very little space. For the vast majority of us, then, this group is a discovery, and it is really an exciting one. Tenor saxophonist Chris Byars and trombonist John Mosca share the front line over an intriguing rhythm team comprised of Sacha Perry, Ari Roland and Danny Rosenfeld. Perry, whose harmonic sense is quite evolved and original, seems especially valuable. Though one hears general influences like Monk and Elmo Hope, Perry is very much his own man. Actually the pianist he reminds me of most would be the young Argonne Thornton in his pre-Sadik Hakim days, but this is more for a quirky, almost stumbling kind of phrasing than for any of the notes he plays. Mosca is the one player here who might be familiar; he's been with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra all the way back to Thad and Mel days, and now directs the unit. He and Byars are both impressive soloists who prove that it's quite possible for contemporary players to find new ways to play in what is essentially a very advanced hard bop style. Both score with solo construction that's anything but obvious, and both enjoy interpolating sly quotations into their soliloquies.

Roland, Byars and Perry contribute to the all-original program. All three can write convincingly and their styles are complementary. Special mention should be made of Roland and Rosenfeld's work. These guys really tune in to each other and to what's going on around them. In fact, good as the writing and soloing are, the group feeling is what stands out the most about this record.