Stereophile – August 2019

stereophile.com n August2019

“DragonFly Red

and Black are the  nest

examples of everyman hi-

ever to grace these pages.

Their value quotients

explode the dial.”

—John Darko,

Darko Audio

More

Beautiful!

D p dph p

Beautiful!

DAC/Preamp/Headphone Amp

The $199.95

DragonFly Red

I do the recording

and the photography.

Dave Darlington

does the mixing and

mastering. My wife,

Dena, does the design

and layout and web-

site. Ann Braithwaite

does the PR. We are

very efficient. Unlike

most nonprofits, we

put most of the money I raise into the

hands of the artists.”

Jason Palmer’s Rhyme and Reason

is more than 100 minutes of relent-

less, hell-bent creativity. Palmer and

his trumpet work in quick bursts and

slashes. He builds fierce tension and

releases it unpredictably. Tracks run to

16 and 17 minutes. Solos are long but

keep arriving at breakthroughs. Mark

Turner, a major tenor saxophonist, may

never before have played on record

with this combination of abandon and

concentration. Drummer Kendrick

Scott, with his spikes and surges,

continuously jars the ensemble into

changing course. Bassist Matt Brewer

is also a badass; Palmer gives him space

for his own dramatic solo ceremonies,

as in “Mark’s Place.”

Trion is Johnathan Blake’s third

album as a leader. His collaborators are

Chris Potter, a world-class reed player,

and bassist Linda May Han Oh, about

whom there is buzz on the street.

Trion hits you right in the face. In its

volatile, chordless environment, three

players are set free to spill their guts.

“Synchronicity 1,” a Police song, seems

an improbable choice, but Potter uses

Sting’s infectious ditty as a launch pad

for a 17-minute dissertation on the

limitless possibilities of variations on a

theme.

Blake represents a new genera-

tion that has taken jazz drumming to

previously unknown levels of aggres-

sion, generating so much percussive

information that he redefines the

relationship between a drummer and a

band. Yet he is too musical to domi-

neer. Blake’s kind of jazz is not for the

faint of heart. It offers no opportuni-

ties for the listener to relax, not even

in “Relaxin’ at Camarillo.” The trio

briefly plays it straight, then Potter, Oh,

and Blake, in turn, incinerate Charlie

Parker’s classic C-major blues.

Tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander

is a surprising choice for GSA. He

is a respected member of the hard-

bop mainstream, with more than

40 albums as leader. In an interview

conducted (hands-free) while he was

driving home from his teaching gig at

Rutgers University, he said, “Jimmy

GIANT STEP ARTS

Above: Linda May

Han Oh, Johnathan

Blake and Chris Potter

perform at the Jazz

Gallery. Right: Potter,

Oh, and Blake.

PHOTOS: JIMMY KATZ