Connie Crothers, piano; Lenny Popkin, tenor saxophone; Carol Tristano, drums; Cameron Brown, bass
Tracklist: 1. Swingshine 2. New Mood Download 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
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Download listen to the Connie Crothers – Lenny Popkin Quartet | New Mood
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This download comprises one 91.14MB zip file with the complete track list in 192kbps MP3 format along with album art in high resolution JPG format.
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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.
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, Down Beat, August 1994