Search - Native Colors :: One World

Four excellent musicians turn this into a fine album

Erik Werkman | Utrecht, Netherlands | 11/20/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Native Colours is the name for a group consisting of Ralph Moore (tenor and soprano saxophones), Renee Rosnes (piano), Larry Grenadier (bass) and Billy Drummond (drums): four excellent players, each in his/her own right. Ralph Moore has been one of the major forces on the tenor saxophone for some 15 years now, with a wonderful distinguished melodic sound in the Coltrane tradition. The Canadian-born Renee Rosnes is maybe still a little underestimated and relatively unknown by the public (not by fellow musicians), although she has made a number of very fine (mostly out-of-print?!) records under her own name from 1989 on. Her husband, Billy Drummond, is one of the most requested drummers in the New York scene and rightly so: his swing and taste are unquestionable and he knows how to bring the best to different musical situations. Larry Grenadier is the regular bass player for Brad Mehldau's explorations of the piano trio format and also very much in demand outside of that. The question is of course: does such a recording by an all-star group live up to the expectations raised by these famous names? The answer is undoubtedly yes. The group sounds definitely like a cohesive unit and "taste" is what they all have in common. The tunes chosen for this album fortunately are not too familiar. Renee Rosnes is the featured composer with three good originals (Girlie's World, One World and Orion's Belt) and one shared duty with Ralph Moore (Freedom). The other songs are a mix of better-known (Nature Boy) standards and lesser-known repertoire by Clifford Jordan and Charlie Rouse amongst others. The sound recording quality is beautifully transparant. Although it seems that this was a just a one-time thing, probably because they are all too busy with their own projects, hopefully they will go back into the studio again, because it it a joy hearing these outstanding musicians play together!If you like to check some of their other individual work I would recommend Ralph Moore's albums "623C Street" (with Billy Hart on drums), "Who It Is You Are" (with Billy Higgins on drums) and "Rejuvenate" (with Marvin "Smitty" Smith on drums); Renee Rosnes' albums (hopefully available somewhere) "For The Moment" and "Art & Soul" (both with Billy Drummond on drums), "Ancestors" (with Al Foster on drums); Billy Drummond plays on a lot of albums, but Walt Weiskopf's albums are especially worth checking out ("Simplicity" and "Song For My Mother" above all); Larry Grenadier is found on all Brad Mehldau's albums ("Songs" and "Places" are especially fine)."