Album Notes

The Tynan quartet plays music with litheness and sensitivity. The young trumpeter shows a mellow side in teaming with reed player Summers, bassist Wigton, and drummer Helbing. Tynan and Summers make an articulate pair as front-line performers. The sounds from their instruments meet and merge in a natural union of tonality to spring either one of them loose on extensive improvised journeys. They play off each other, cajole each other, and typically reach peaks of joint expression. Nearly all the compositions are the individual product of the band members, yet all the songs have a common denominator to tie them to the recording's concept. While the playing has the semblance of free flight, it is influenced by gravitational pull to maintain an association with tradition.

Tynan's playing has melodic spirit and expressiveness much the way Kenny Wheeler's does. He has a clear tone and an original way of developing his solos to substantiate his inventiveness. Summers excels on both alto and soprano and is a natural foil in his co-role. The rhythm team underscores the efforts of both horn men with a soft-toned touch. Wigton is into time but also breaks loose with constrained openness, particularity on the closing number. Helbing consistently raps out an unstructured drumbeat to preclude the music from falling into any complacency traps. With the exception of an inappropriate and very private telephone voice message inserted on the first tune, the set sends out very agreeable vibrations. Tynan has assimilated an abundance of the music's history and has shown with this album an ability to expand on the language.