Search - Dave Glasser :: Dreams Askew Dreams Anew

Music of the highest order

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 04/18/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's amazing to me that an artist like Dave Glasser can emerge from inside the jazz esthetic after nearly 100 years of essentially the same ingredients going into the music. One would have thought that everything fresh had already been expressed (at least in a quasi-traditional setting like this). Yet, here we have this 30-something white altoist sounding like just about nothing that's gone before. It's not that he's staking out new territory; what we've got here is pretty much your typical jazz program--blues, latin-tinged numbers, a few ballads. Why, then, does it sound so different, so essential, so mature? I don't know, but it does. My suspicion is that there's a ton of woodshedding, thousands of hours on the bandstand, probably some formal instruction from one or more of the masters behind this music. And a true musical genius at work.Two things that stand out: his tone, very rich and polished for an alto player, yet still having lots character and roundness; and his timing. He seems to like to play a little behind the beat (not in itself unusual), but he's so inside the rhymic essentials of each piece, all the while sounding completely effortless. Nor do I think I've ever heard these world-class musicians sound better. It's as if they've picked up on the fact that something special is going down here, and they're tight as all get out. Check out especially their rendering of Moose the Mooche, an early bebop number that is so overrecorded that one would think nothing new could come out of it. But it veritably sings, sounding as if it were written yesterday.Or again, take Love Letters, a pop tune that one would think unredeemable. Glasser, with a simply ravishing unacompanied rendition, turns this old warhorse into music that astounds. The more I listen to this, the more befuddled I am. You just aren't prepared to hear jazz this accomplished on a debut release. But believe me, this is it. I doubt I'll hear a better jazz release this year, even though it's only April. By all means, don't pass this one by."

A Strong, New Voice

Richard J. Smith | Milwaukee, Wisconsin United States | 09/19/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I echo the statements of Mr. Dennis, who wrote a previous review of this disc. Frankly, it was getting to the point where I was bored by bop-derived playing. It no longer sounded fresh.
Dave Glasser works within a traditional jazz setting, but he sounds original. A lot of it has to do with his tone, the sound he gets out of the alto. A little vibrato, a little raspy, quite appealing to this ear. There are 2 unaccompanied alto numbers here: Pannonica and Love Letters - both beautiful and captivating. The group is a good one: the always swinging and intelligent Lewis Nash on drums, Peter Washington - bass and Barry Harris -piano. One tune is a quintet with a trumpet, works very well. I recommend this disc, certainly to anyone playing sax, but any jazz lover will like it. Accessible, rewards careful listening and sounds good at a cocktail party too."