While listening to the cuts on John Ricci’s Holding Time, I constantly found myself swaying and moving to the music. The groove in this quartet is infectious – and clearly by design. Ricci himself quotes his mentor Donald Brown, “When you play with or listen to others, it needs to groove from deep inside and make you and all those around you want to dance from the inside out.” Ricci’s music has clearly done this.
Slow Tango, an introspective and pensive ballad provides the only “down time” on Holding Time. The interplay between piano, bass and brushwork by Peter Miles has its charm. Ricci’s sound seems to open up a bit when he solos. To these ears shades of Garbarek creep out of the shadows. John Ricci displays great depth as a player, showing yet another side to his complex sound. I love the clinking keys behind the subtone!
Just when I thought I had this cat figured out, John Ricci displayed yet another side on the final cut. Bounce Blues by Ben Webster begins by Ricci paying homage to Webster and completely embracing the sound, style and feel of that tradition – for a bit. Again tradition and modernism are blended by Ricci and the rhythm section. By the second solo chorus, John Ricci abandons all tradition and begins to bend, break and twist all the rules. Bowlus brings us back to the traditional following Ricci’s musical tantrum. Bowlus takes it out a bit but only as a tease. He finishes just as “inside” as he started. Bassist Thornton has the last word before the final out chorus.
Lastly, the CD jacket proclaims, “Recorded in a traditional live/studio setting with minimal processing and absolutely no overdubbing.” The quartet’s esthetic under the direction of John Ricci is rooted in both tradition as well as modernism. That esthetic can be difficult to achieve bet is done so deftly here on Holding Time. Buy it. Everyone who knows Ricci’s playing will be pleased. Others who are not yet familiar with John Ricci’s tenor saxophone playing need to educate themselves. Listening to this CD will be one of the most enjoyable lessons you have taken!
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