Chris Potter & the DR Big Band – Transatlantic (2011)

Artist: Chris Potter & the DR Big Band
Album: Transatlantic
Genre: Modern Creative, Experimental Big Band, Post-Bop
Label: Red Dot Music/VME
Year Of Release: 2011
Format: FLAC (tracks+.cue)
Tracklist:
01. Quick (Potter) – 9:44
02. The Steppes (Potter) – 9:21
03. Interlude (Potter) – 1:30
04. New Year’s Day (Potter) – 9:26
05. Narrow Road (Potter) – 6:27
06. Abyssinia (Potter) – 9:52
07. Totally (Potter) – 9:09
08. Rumination (Potter) – 11:49

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Personnel:
Chris Potter – saxophone, conductor
Anders Gustafsson, Christer Gustafsson, Thomas Kjaergaard, Mads la Cour, Gerard Presencer – trumpets
Vincent Nilsson, Steen Hansen, Peter Jensen, Jakob Munck – trombones
Nicolai Schultz, Peter Fuglsang, Lars Moller, Uffe Markussen, Pelle Fridell – reeds
Magnus Hjort – piano
Kaspar Vadsholt – acoustic bass
Soren Frost – drums
Per Gade – guitar

Chris Potter has long established himself as one of the top saxophonists of his generation, but these 2010 sessions with the DR Big Band find him breaking new ground, writing original material for a large ensemble while conducting and serving as the primary soloist as well. “Quick” is a quirky opener, with a funky undercurrent but rich harmonies, dissonance, and his hard-blowing tenor sax. The boisterous “New Year’s Day” features more of Potter’s burning, Sonny Rollins-influenced tenor, plus the expressive trumpet of Mads la Cour (a fine bandleader in his own right). The sorrowful “Abyssinia” has an exotic air and lumbering pace, but a majesty all its own with the leader’s rich scoring of the brass and reeds. But it is the finale, the extended post-bop vehicle “Rumination,” that leaves the most lasting impression, alternating between a percolating cooker with the brass subdivided into different sections to back his burning solo, and a mellower mood with a robust solo by trombonist Steen Hansen. Fans of Chris Potter who are used to hearing him lead various small groups will have their ears opened by this outstanding progressive release.
Review by Ken Dryden

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