The "Power of Two" is the first album from John Temmerman's Jazz Obsession
Quartet--he previously recorded an album in a trio--and dates back to 2001.
As the name of the group suggests, this is jazz all the way, albeit with a
dash of latin and funk thrown into the mix for good measure. They are led
from the front by tenor saxman John Temmerman.
Half of the tracks on the power of two are covers, including the opener,
"All Blues," which is taken from Miles Davis' classic "Kind Of Blue" album.
The covers are arranged to suit the line-up of tenor sax, guitar (Neal
Alger), bass (Steven Hashimoto) and drums (Rusty Jones). In the case of
"All Blues" this means a different sound, because sax and guitar stand in
for trumpet and piano. Like all of the tracks here, though it is nicely
done. Temmerman is a good sax player, and wherever he leads, the band
always follow as a unit, and Alger is a guitarist who is equally at home
playing rhythm or taking the lead spotlight. As you would expect, the bass
and drums also get their chances in the spotlight too.
The rest of the covers include the bossa nova beat of "Costa Del Sol," one
from Frank Sinatra's repertoire ("Nice And Easy") and the more funky "TCB
in E." Temmerman's original material also stands up to favorable
comparison. It all adds up to make "The Power Of Two" a good jazz album. It
works well as background music, but also stands up to closer listening too.
This is at least partly due to the fact that the Jazz Obsession Quartet are
a tightly knit unit, where everyone knows their own, and everybody else's
place in the grander scheme of things.
www.jazzobsession.com
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