Dennis González - The Great Bydgoszcz Concert

Michael Coyle, Cadence Magazine

Engaged, but virtually never voiced in unison. For unison lines we go to González’ band, Yells at Eels — a family joke for “yes it is.” This band has been playing together now for ten years, long since enough to have shaped an ensemble identity. The lone member not actually a González is Portuguese tenor saxman Rodrigo Amado. González’ music tends to be free-bop-oriented; Amado’s presence pushes González pere et fils a bit further forward. It’s with Amado that Trane’s legacy is most unmistakably present. As other artists like Ken Vandermark have documented, Polish audiences can be discerning and supportive: perhaps that is why the band plays with such spirit. This music is freer than others of González’ music, with Aaron and Stefan G insistently pushing things along, gripping more than grooving (although in passages of “Joining Pleasure with Useful,” particularly in the final 90 seconds, Aaron comes close to groove). The interplay between the horns is unpredictable, the aforementioned unison lines with which tracks open quickly breaking into both centrifugal and converging movements. González has been on a roll for the past ten years, and part of what keeps him going, I think, is his willingness to throw new voices into longstanding ensembles. The Great Bydgoszcz Concert is a fine record, exciting and fresh, that makes Trane’s late work as a point of departure rather than an object of adoration.