There’s something about a saxophone that makes it so unique from every other instrument. This is especially true when it comes to jazz music.
There is something about jazz music that makes it so unique from every other genre of music.
This is especially true of the debut release of Pete Mills, Momentum.
The album was the result of a grant Mills received from the North Carolina Arts Council.
From the opening notes of the opening track, “Waiting For Spring,” Mills proves that he a jazz talent to be reckoned with. He plays a mean saxophone that would make John Coltrane or Cannonball Adderly.
The album was recorded, for the most part, as a quartet featuring Mills on tenor sax, Mark Flugge on piano, Doug Richeson on bass and Aaron Scott. However, Mills and company are joined by Ray Codrington on trumpet, Jim Powell on Cornet and Flugelhorn, and Paul Tardif on a couple of tracks.
In addition to the great performance, the album as a whole also demonstrates Mills’ talent as a songwriter. There is not a moment on the entire album that the listener should not be drawn into, or even amazed by, Mills’ playing.
A standout track, in my opinion, is the album’s second track, “Nine Lives.” The toe-tapping, finger-snapping rhythms are only the beginning as the track concludes with some blazing solos, including one by Flugge.
From the album’s title track, an intense high-paced song, through the album’s fifth track, “3 of Us,“ a slow jazz ballad there is plenty of space for solos.
Momentum is available in the Big REaD Bookstore or from Pete Mills.
Grade: A
