Tenor saxophonist
Charles Gayle plays with such fury and intensity that it seems he won't make it through the performances featured on these two discs. They spotlight his quartet during concerts. Hearing
Gayle's overtones, screams, and blistering solos, backed by equally spirited playing from bassists Vattel Cherry and
William Parker, and either Michael Wimberly or
Marc Edwards on drums, it's easy to forget you're hearing it as they played it, with little pacing or variance in volume. It's impossible not to remember the 1960s and '70s free and loft jazz schools, but it's also appropriate to emphasize that
Gayle doesn't sound like anyone else currently active and deserves significant attention beyond tiny jazz publications and sympathetic, but small, audiences. ~ Ron Wynn