The Lello Molinari Quintet

	"On A Boston Night" Reviews *On A Boston Night* The Lello Molinari Quintet seems to take its cues from the work of Charles Mingus on On A Boston Night. There is stunning bass clarinet and sax interplay on these tunes along with some deftly executed guitar runs. These are very nice performances, often moody, often melancholy. "Echoes Of Rome" and for that matter, much of this release, may remind listeners of the writings, the voicings used by Mingus in his small group orchestrations. These pieces have the same strident cries and cohesive interplay among the various instruments. Altoist Yates conjures aural images of the fleet playing of Julian Adderley on "The Mingus I Knew" while "There's Snow Place Like Home" is a driving uptempo jam. Garzone seems strongest on the tenor saxophone; his large bright tone is aptly suited for that horn. As with many doublers, Garzone's soprano sax playing on this disk is often shrill and screeching. This is a smooth set that is often mellow and subdued performed by a cohesive quintet who are quite often a delight to listen to. For a live recording the sonic quality of the disc is fairly good although the applause has a tendency to interrupt the music flow. - Leonard V. Bukowsky *On A Boston Night* The opening track reminds you of Ornette Coleman's Golden Circle albums: the ominous bass drone, a ride cymbal hovering free, an alto saxophone plaintively keening, the acoustic space of a small jazz club. But it is Boston, not Stockholm, and it is 30 years down the road of expanding the forms in which jazz can take place. "There's snow place like home" is a guitar/alto/soprano battle cry. Guitarist Peckham solos hard first but the horns won't let him alone, interrupting to holler the theme again. Doug Yates cuts in on alto with a six notes summons and then spills his guts in a piercing call to action. Molinari's bass creates suggestive uncertainty by shifting between ostinato (quite like Coleman's Izenzon) and a walking line. The first time through you miss the segue from Yates' alto to Garzone's soprano at 4:20. But only soprano saxophones can shriek that dizzying dervish. Garzone and Molinari write softer songs too: sweet, awkward waltzes ("First Dance"), homages that capture the essence and spirit of their subject ("The Mingus I knew"), even painfully slow misterioso dirges that barely break the silence ("Echoes of Rome"). The Boston scene is sometimes described as insular. "On a Boston Night" will startle outsiders. Molinari is a bassist/leader with a concept, and Garzone and Yates command fluency and fire on all four of their reed instruments. (Yates closes out "Nothing Cheap" with a bass clarinet seminar on intervallic leaps). This album was recorded live at the Regattabar in Cambridge. The sonic quality is not audiophile (those horns are one blaring flat wall), but it is just right for Molinari"s music: in your face, a little raw, fiercely alive. - Thomas Conrad *On A Boston Night* Refreshing avant bop where compositional ingenuity yields well-constructured tunes tinged with wit. Players course through cohesive though slightly odd metered formats ("First Dance") and less structured spacey chamber music type numbers ("Echoes of Rome"). Molinari acts as rhythmic anchor but lets his mates sail away when necessary. There are heavy shades of Mingus and hints of John Scofield, but the music is best when those guys do their own off-kilter thing. - Deni Kasrel *On A Boston Night* The most striking feature about bassist Molinari's group is that it features a guitarist, Rick Peckham, playing alongside two wailing saxophonists (George Garzone and Doug Yates), giving the band far more rhythmic freedom than a piano would. Fast pieces like "There's Snow Place Like Home" and "Nothing Cheap" fly off the launching pad with all five musicians careening around like they're in a road race, Peckham's brisk jazz-rock playing holding its own with Garzone's and Yates's hard blowing. Of other pieces, "First Dance" is a genteel waltz with Garzone playing a more conversational tenor, and "The Mingus I Knew" is a mood-shifting tribute to great bassist. "Echoes Of Rome" breacks away from jazz entirely for eerie atmospheric passages of whining guitar and bowed bass that sounds like one of ECM's more impressionistic sets. This is excellent modern jazz. - Jerome Wilson *On A Boston Night* It is rare when a band plays urgent bop with the same elan as ballads. Credit that versatility to bassist Lello Molinari whose skilled quintet pushes the envelope harmonically. On a Boston Night showcases high quality players - drummer Bob Gullotti, Guitarist Rick Peckham, and alto saxphonist Doug Yates - who ply their trade in the shadow of the jazz Sorbonne, Boston's Berklee School of Music. Tenor and soprano saxphonist George Garzone, who wrote four of the six tunes, proves to be devastating. He's a fluid composer and player, fluent at both flaming out or evoking a spiritual mood. - K.S.