Connie Crothers, piano; Lenny Popkin, tenor saxophone; Carol Tristano, drums; Cameron Brown, bass

Tracklist: 1. Swingshine 2. New Mood 3. Beyond a Dream 4. Studio Memory 5. Soul Sayer 6. Origin 7. Just You 8. Theatre Piece 9. Jazz Spring 10. Time Step

Recording Date: March 26, 1993 at BMG Studios, New York, NY

” * * * * This is linear improvisation at its best.” – Frank van Herk, Jazz Nu

“Contrasting approaches…elaborate melodic lines.” – Jon Andrews, Down Beat

“The music has purity and fascination that repays endless study.”- Derek Ansell, Jazz Journal

The influence of Lennie Tristano’s teachings

survives into the ’90s with the Connie Crothers/Lenny Popkin Quartet a principal exponent. “Jazz Spring” melds contrasting approaches, with mixed results. Crothers can be a forceful, percussive pianist, prone to dark, minor chords delivered with a stabbing attack. Popkin favors the tenor saxophone’s upper register, and plays smoothly in a style somewhat suggestive of Lee Konitz. As an accompanist, Crothers maintains tension, but sounds stern and hard-edged, almost at odds with the group’s bright, upbeat approach. As a soloist, Crothers adopts a more expansive, introspective persona. On the CD’s best tracks, “Jazz Spring” and “Beyond a Dream,” she exhibits a lighter touch, unraveling elaborate melodic lines. in this mode, she interacts effectively with Popkin’s tenor. — Down Beat, August 1994

Crothers and Popkin’s compositions

are mostly vehicles for playing, with “Soul Sayer” a meandering variation on “Body and Soul.” The sound mix accentuates the high end, giving short shrift to the rhythm section of Cameron Brown and Carol Tristano, and reinforcing Crothers’ tendency to overwhelm her colleagues. It’s good to hear Brown again on bass — he’s kept too low a profile since the breakup of the Don Pullen/George Adams Quartet, where he was so effective. — Jon Andrews

CD version (incl. shipment cost world-wide)

MP3 version (91.14MB zip download)