REVIEW: Richard Sussman Quintet’s “Continuum”
Music is a continuum, isn’t it? It’s something you never want to end, something Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn did brilliantly when their songs would end some of their their compositions in a way which made it appear as if it would never end, that more was on the way if you waited, a “to be continued” towards hearing an eternal song. Life continues on, and adding to the fabric of life is Richard Sussman and his quintet with Continuum (Origin).
With the skyline setting a pace and place for the music, pianist Sussman sits down and welcomes any and all to hear the bright lights and big city, the magic and the tragic, the loners and the extroverts, perverting with one another to be synchronous as if the city is one giant organism. “Spare Change” is the sound of someone hoping for a few coins or a dollar bill to buy who knows what. You may assume he wants a drink, you may think he’ll buy a drug, but maybe he wants to get a cup of coffee to stay warm, but it’s that initial burst of compassion within you that makes this song vibrant, the unknown becoming the familiar and the norm. He and Jeff Williams (drums), Mike Stern (who sits in for “Mike’s Blues”), Mike Richmond (bass), Jerry Bergonzi (tenor saxophone), and the great Randy Brecker (trumpet and flugelhorn) are the translators and orators to the Continuum, and whether you are a city dweller or long for a bit of urban civility, this is the perfect music to get you in, within, and never want to leave. Gentrification doesn’t exist in their world, everyone is living for one, whatever “the one” may be and…
To be continued…
What do you think?