"Sheer musicality" is a phrase that leaps instantly to mind when one thinks of Jerry Bergonzi. Prose laureate Whitney Balliett coined the phrase "the sound of surprise" as an encomium for jazz. Like most of his peers, Bergonzi shoots regularly for this ideal and his third recording for Savant certainly hits the bull's eye. Bergonzi played with Dave Brubeck in the 1970s, but his tenor sound has a tough, crackling quality now, and between the twisting, scale patterns he hammers home a dramatic punctuation of Coltrane-like split-notes and startled cries. He's a supreme spontaneous melodist, however the nods to free jazz are markers on compellingly logical yet constantly diverted journeys. Here, on an exciting program with his regular partners, (Renato Chicco, Dave Santoro, & Andrea Michelutti) Bergonzi carries all before him, sometimes with a Rollins-like force, sometimes with an enigmatic Wayne Shorteresque airiness and always with the "sound of surprise."

Jerry Bergonzi- tenor saxophone; with Renato Chicco- piano; Dave Santoro- bass; Andrea Michelutti- drums

Tracks: Who Cares?; Hank; Girl Idlig; Soul Mission; Splurge; Wippin' and Waulpin'; Left of Memory

Who Cares?

Hank

Soul Mission

Splurge