Fly - Sky & Country

[GA Russell]

Fly is a trio made up of Mark Turner on tenor and soprano sax, Larry Grenadier on bass and Jeff Ballard on drums. They have a new album out this week called Sky & Country.

They will be touring the US throughout April:

April 9 - 12 New York, NY Jazz Standard

April 14 Ulster, NY SUNY-Ulster

April 15 &16 Boston, MA Berklee

April 17 Cambridge, MA Regattabar

April 18 La Jolla, CA Athenaeum

April 20 Oakland, CA Yoshi's

April 21-22 Seattle, WA Jazz Alley

April 24 Portland, OR Jimmy Mak's

April 26 Arcata, CA Redwood Jazz Alliance

There are nine tracks on the album, with Turner relaxed on all of them. For the first six, Ballard is a colorist. The tracks are good, but I felt that they would have been better with the addition of a piano or a guitar.

Turner has an interesting sound on the soprano sax. Very clear and round tone. He plays very low notes, and I thought he was playing an alto.

For the last three tracks, Ballard wakes up and provides some real rhythm. To my taste those tracks are by far the best of the cd.

I like Grenadier a lot, and he doesn't disappoint here.

In regard to the tour, I would say that if the venue is convenient and you haven't taken your wife out for drinks in a while, then I would certainly recommend going. I think the concert would be interesting and enjoyable. But if the venue is inconvenient and expensive, I don't think this group will provide the lasting memories that would justify the effort. It's a very good record, but it's not that big a deal when Ballard isn't propelling the group.

[James]

I plan on seeing this group when they perform in San Diego (it's not La Jolla) on the 18th. Thanks for the review, GA.

[relyles]

I hope to be able to get down to catch them at the Jazz Standard.

[robviti]

be advised that the two dates at berklee are part of the college's marsalis jam series. the band will play only a short set, followed by an open jam by berklee students.

[sal]

I really liked their first one on Savoy.