Power Source
is something of a departure for
Ryan Kisor
, as it features a piano-less quartet fronted by the leader and tenor saxophonist
Chris Potter
, with
James Genus
on bass and
Gene Jackson
on drums. The harmonically sparse format gives the set a more modern edge, although there's still loads of tradition in these seven tracks. After getting warmed up with
Kisor
's fast, polyphonic title cut, the quartet tackles two
originals (
"Salome's Dance,"
"Pelog"
), two
Mingus
charts (
"Duke Ellington's Sound of Love,"
"Boogie Stop Shuffle"
), and
Jimmy Heath
's beautiful
waltz
"New Picture"
before signing off with
Ornette Coleman
's classic
"Bird Food."
(
Potter
, incidentally, recorded both
"Salome's Dance"
and
on his 1994 release,
Pure
.)
's trumpet work is superb, his rapport with
highly developed. While he has consistently displayed great promise from a remarkably early age,
represents his biggest "growth spurt" thus far. He shouldn't be underestimated. ~ David R. Adler