Jerry Bergonzi has long been regarded as a top-flight tenor saxophonist among his peers and this session finds him in top form, playing with a seasoned, familiar rhythm section, consisting of pianist
Bruce Barth, bassist
Dave Santoro, and drummer
Andrea Michelutti. Seven of the ten tracks are originals by the leader, starting with the tense, somewhat dark cooker "Mr. MB," dedicated to the late tenorist
Michael Brecker.
Bergonzi switches to soprano for his exotic "Malaga.""Transphybian" is an unusual blues that doesn't follow the predicted path, while "Crossing the Naeff" is a haunting ballad duet with
Barth.
Bergonzi's settings of standards are all refreshing. "Come Fly with Me" bursts with energy from his angular,
Sonny Rollins-flavored approach, while his inventive re-harmonization of "Out of Nowhere" contrasts with a more traditional arrangement of "Dancing in the Dark." Highly recommended! ~ Ken Dryden