June 2003

Eric Person
Live at Big Sur
Distinction Records

By David Franklin

Altoist/sopranoist Eric Person has worked with Chico Hamilton, Dave Holland, the World Saxophone Quartet and many others over the years. But since 1999, he has lead his own quartet, Meta-Four, and Live at Big Sur (Distinction), recorded at the Big Sur JazzFest in May of 2002, is the band's second album. A versatile, virtuosic player in an essentially hard-bop and modal style, Person also composes sophisticated postbop tunes that occasionally sport a heavy backbeat and a funky bass line. All the compositions on this album are his, and with most lasting over nine minutes, afford him and his colleagues-pianist John Esposito, bassist Kenny Davis and the explosive drummer Peter O'Brien-ample opportunities for extensive development of their improvisational ideas. Showing a high degree of common purpose and mutual understanding, the band produces music that's typically emphatic and often exploratory in nature while remaining fully accessible and always swinging. Esposito's crisp, percussive touch drives his solos unrelentingly forward. Davis' solos display his impressive control of the five-string electric bass.