Urban Sprawl by Mike MacAllister Group

23 Sep

Written by Steve Greenlee
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This quote comes from Steve Greenlee's Jazz Notes in the June 7, 2002 Jazz Notes column of the Boston Globe Newspaper. "Local kids make good: We get a lot of discs by local musicians, and while many of them contain run-of-the-mill jazz that fails to distinguish itself, there is the occasional gem. The Mike MacAllister Group , a quintet comprising Berklee students, has released a CD that shows unusual sophistication and depth.

All of the tunes on Urban Sprawl" were written by MacAllister, who plays guitar, but the other four members - Gerad O'Shea on saxophones, Martha Cipolla on marimba, Jamie Bishop on electric bass, and Jordan Perlson on drums - are also given ample opportunity to improvise within the structure.

The result is 51 minutes of solid, ever-changing excursions into the land where jazz, rock, funk, and Afro-Cuban music converge. Here's hoping a CD-release concert is in the offing.