The New York Times
April 2, 2006

Playlist

By BEN RATLIFF

Ari Roland

The young bassist Ari Roland plays bebop, not hard bop: he is fascinated by the fragile dynamics of that music from the 1940's and early 50's, with its imaginative, jagged melodic lines and unusual, sometimes cryptic harmony. (He also plays bowed bass at fast tempos with amazing skill, following the examples of Steve Brown, Oscar Pettiford and Paul Chambers.) "Sketches From a Bassist's Album" (Smalls), a strong record, puts him with a like-minded, bop-obsessed group, including the tenor saxophonist Chris Byars, the pianist Sacha Perry and the drummer Phil Stewart.