New York Standards Quartet - The New Straight Ahead (2014)

The New Straight Ahead is the debut Whirlwind release from the New York Standards Quartet (NYSQ) and their fourth album to date. The NYSQ is made up of pianist David Berkman, drummer Gene Jackson, saxophonist Tim Armacost, and double bassist Daiki Yasukagawa. As a band the New York-based unit have developed a near telepathic relationship playing together in a variety of settings since their formation in 2006. Conceptually, the NYSQ strives to develop its own language within the tradition of performing standard jazz repertoire.

The Guardian, in a glowing, four-star review of the band’s recent tour across the UK, asserts the NYSQ is “a group devoted to radical reinvention of famous pop songs and Broadway show tunes. Plenty of contemporary jazz artists do that, but few more divertingly than this vivacious foursome, who delightedly cherish the originals while brusquely deconstructing their harmonies and tweaking their melodies, sometimes only slipping in the original theme on the way out of the piece. This is a collective class act.”

After creating a lifetime of original music (each of the members are notable composers & bandleaders) the NYSQ felt it would liberating to perform music based on simpler, standard jazz repertoire, and in particular the songs that they had learned while growing up learning the music. By playing tunes such as “Confirmation” or “All the Things You Are,” they put the focus on playing the tune and what they do with it, not so much on the tune itself. The songs are therefore blank slates to write on with a lot of freedom and room for interpretation. They have also expanded their approach to include arrangements and reinventions of these songs as well as original compositions that have a close connection to forms and harmonies derived from standards. The bond the group shares is further strengthened by a common love for Japanese culture, food and language.

The NYSQ has been touring together for eight years and this is immediately apparent from the first note played on The New Straight Ahead. The band maintains a hectic touring schedule at festivals and venues around the world, including performances at key venues in New York City and Japan (eight annual tours), as well as tours around the United States, Great Britain and Mainland Europe. The band’s previous three releases include Live in Tokyo (2008), UnStandard (2011) and Live at Lifetime (2013), on the Challenge Records (Netherlands) and D-Musica (Japan) labels.

Tim Armacost – tenor saxophone
David Berkman – piano
Daiki Yasukagawa – double bass
Gene Jackson – drums