Personnel:
Jon De Lucia (as, a-cl, cl, fl), Greg Ruggiero (g), Chris Tordini (b), Tommy Crane (d)
Reference: FSNT-521
Bar code: 8427328435215
"Jon De Lucia plays various reeds and woodwinds as he leads a light bottomed team of Greg Ruggiero/eg, Chris Tordini/b and Tommy Crane/dr through a collection of fragrant Mediterranean moods. The sounds range from his alto going moody and liturgical on “Opening” to post bop impressionism with his clarinet and bass clarinet on “Stirring Curds” and ”Caterina.” On clarinet, there is Melancholia on “Sinus Suite A” while the team gets festive on “Seven Ate Three For You.” Ruggiero’s guitar is pastoral with De Lucia’s alto on “St. Brendan’s Isle” while they ruminate together on ”Blockhouse #1” and they create a cheerful lilt on “Snake Creeps down.” The rhythm team does a nimble dance on ”Festa” while they trudge through the mud on “KJ”. Through every track, however, there is an Iberian sense of warmth and early morning sunshine, just ready for a cheerful walk through a street. Rich ideas from the old world in a post bop vein."
George W. Harris (April 13, 2017)
http://www.jazzweekly.com
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"There is a sense of quiet purpose and direction to As The River Sings. From the opening, haunting strains of this slightly ancient-sounding music, through to the closing Stirring Curds, the album achieves a pleasing, seamless whole that lingers in the mind. From the track titles to the album artwork, there is a throwback nature to this project that brings the whole thing a sense of grace and poise. De Lucia’s previous recordings have included interpretations of Handel and Bach, which explains some of the baroque influence at work here. The pared back, deceptive simplicity of some of the themes is also explained by another of De Lucia’s projects: renditions of Japanese folksongs. Both of these influences have clearly shaped the composition and performance of the material on As The River Sings.
Greg Ruggiero gives a wonderfully restrained, spacious performance on guitar, and Tordini and Crane also allow this music to breathe and develop with sensitive work on bass and drums. At the heart of the music, De Lucia’s tone on sax and clarinet is bright, precise, enquiring and questioning. Often sounding like a mix between Art Pepper and Lee Konitz, the tone is perfectly suited to the probing nature of the material. The album also has a real sense of presence thanks to the mixing and mastering skills of David Darlington. Focused, thoughtful and quietly beguiling."
John Adcock (June, 2017)
Jazz Journal Magazine
