Paris Transatlantic review by Michael Rosenstein

Gerry Hemingway Quintet – RIPTIDE (CF 227)
From the mid 80s through the mid 90s, Gerry Hemingway put out a series of seminal recordings, melding the collective strategies he had developed as part of Anthony Braxton’s quartet with the sense of loose-limbed free swing honed with players like Ray Anderson, Mark Helias, George Lewis, Wadada Leo Smith, and other members of the burgeoning New Haven scene in the late 70s. Starting with the long out-of-print Outerbridge Crossing and on through a series of releases on Hat Art, Random Acoustics, and GM Recordings, Hemingway built a distinctive approach to small-group composition, making use of captivating metrical layering, snaking melodic threads, and plenty of room for collective improvisation. Core to that concept was a stable band with Michael Moore, Wolter Wierbos, Ernst Reijseger, and Mark Dresser. Since then, Hemingway’s pulled together various bands with musicians like Ellery Eskelin, Herb Robertson, Frank Gratkowski, and Mark Helias; while all have had their high-points, none have quite gelled like earlier recordings. With this newest ensemble, Hemingway has once again found that group alignment. Oscar Noriega (on alto sax, clarinet, and bass clarinet) is paired with Eskelin’s tenor, and Kermit Driscoll is on board playing acoustic and electric bass; but the big change is the inclusion of guitarist Terrence McManus, whose contributions move from gentle washes to spiky, overdriven skronk. The group attacks the leader’s themes, moving from lush voicings to angular counterpoint, collectively pushing an elastic approach to the pieces’ harmonic and rhythmic structures. There’s a song-like quality to Hemingway’s writing and that often comes to the fore, as on “Gitar”, which uses percolating cross-rhythms across a backbeat to support the reed players’ arcing lines, until things open up for a driving guitar solo full of cutting distortion. There’s also a marked nod to kwela groove throughout, on “At Anytime”, “Holler Up”, and “Backabacka”. The recording is meticulously paced, the pieces seguing into each other in suite-like fashion, with a perfect balance between collective improvisations and thoughtfully-wrought solos. Let’s hope Hemingway can keep this crew together for a while.
http://www.paristransatlantic.com/magazine/monthly2011/09sep_text.html#8