Ensemble: Nick Mazzarella Trio

Label: Thought to Sound Records

Release Date: December 15, 2010

Personnel:
Nick Mazzarella – alto saxophone
Anton Hatwich – bass
Frank Rosaly – drums

Track Listing:
1. Quarantine
2. Pistachio (for my bird)
3. Eternal Return
4. Pescador
5. Free Dance
6. Aviary

All compositions by Nick Mazzarella (BMI).

Production Credits:
Recorded and mixed at Shape Shoppe Studio in Chicago by Nick Broste.
Mastered by Griffin Rodriguez.
Artwork by Johnathan Crawford.

Reviews:

Downbeat (3 1/2 stars)

Aviary introduces Nick Mazzarella, a face new to anyone outside of Chicago, and the trio that he’s led for the past couple years. First albums shouldn’t be this good. The writing is direct, engaging and succinct with melodies so indelible that you might find yourself humming them during the bet-ter parts of your day. Mazzarella’s tone on alto sax, which is not his only horn but is the only one he plays on this recording, has just enough but-ter in it to slide effortlessly over his tunes, but he balances that smoothness with nimble, sharp-toothed elaborations and a distinct, if familiar, cry. The record’s one flaw, and it’s a debatable one, is how close Mazzarella some-times sounds to Atlantic Records-vintage Ornette Coleman; he may not sound like his own man, but his music evinces the same joyousness that enabled Coleman to win over a broader audience who cared less about his innovations than about how good it felt to hear his tunes. The other mem-bers of the trio hold up their end. Drummer Frank Rosaly holds back on the force he sometimes summons in other ensembles, playing elaborately but with restraint. His frolicking Latin accents on “Pescador” are a special treat. Bassist Anton Hatwich supplies the real propulsion with economical lines that zero in on a destination and pull the music inexorably along. If anything, the trio could afford to take a few more side trips; one suspects it’s in the digressive details rather than the bold statements that Mazzarella will find the voice that is most uniquely his.

– Bill Meyer