Wayne Horvitz: Sweeter Than The Day (2002)

Glenn Astarita

Senior Contributor since 1997

Longtime contributor to AAJ and Downbeat, Jazz Review, EjazzNews, Radio DirectX.

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Published: April 21, 2002

Whether indulging in free jazz, grunge style jazz-rock, or swinging mainstream jazz, keyboardist Wayne Horvitz is noted for his rather stylistic compositional faculties. The artist excels when churning out lushly seductive melodic phrases, as evidenced on his inaugural 2000 recording for the Songlines record label, American Bandstand (subsequently re-titled Forever ).

With his second outing for this progressive jazz-based record label, Horvitz and his Zony Mash outfit once again opt for the all-acoustic approach. On many of these works, the artists execute a sequence of dreamscape laden aural canvasses amid a few lightly swinging shuffle grooves.

The title track, “Sweeter Than The Day,” incites notions of an American Civil War ballad, whereas the band expounds upon a simple 3-note progression during the nerve-calming affair, “The Beautiful Number 3.” In many instances, it seems that the players focus on maintaining a balanced ebb and flow, sans a few vibrantly energetic interludes. Timothy Young’s stereo-effect electric guitar work serves as a pleasantly refreshing foil to the keyboardist’s eloquently designed melodies. (The producers have utilized the new “DSD” multi-channel and high sampling rate recording format.)

Track Listing: 1.in One time and another 2.Julian

Personnel: Wayne Horvitz: piano, prepared piano

Record Label: Songlines Recordings
Style: Straight-ahead/Mainstream