Slate
12/20/06

Top Ten Jazz Records of 2006
Omer Avital Group / Asking No Permission

By Fred Kaplan

Israeli-born bassist-composer Omer Avital was 25 when he recorded this live session in 1996 at the very small Greenwich Village jazz club called Smalls with a sextet that included a drummer and four saxophone players. Much hype surrounded the band's weekly sessions, but they played the 2 a.m. set, so few heard them. With this album's long-overdue release, it's clear the hype was warranted. There's a bit of Mingus in this music—the dark rumbles beneath the merrily dissonant harmonies—but some of World Saxophone Quartet's lush turbulence, too, all topped with sweet tones and swaying melodies.