Doug Hall Quartet: JiHi

Pianist Doug Hall’s quartet produces attractive music that, even in its faster tempos, has a continuity of calm and placidity. Each of the eight tracks on Jihi is well made, well played and pleasant. In that regard, the album succeeds on its own terms: peacefulness and relaxation. When the CD ends, the attentive listener-this one, at least-recalls the feeling and mood of the album more than specifics of the music. If that was Hall’s goal, he, saxophonist Adam Kolker, bassist John Hebert and drummer Bruce Hall achieved it. I would like to have heard more of Kolker’s bass clarinet work, which on “Dark Stream” has an intriguing adventurousness that seems to urge Hall in the same direction. Maybe it is the other way around. In either case, “Dark Stream” is the highlight. “Jihi” and “Under the Rainbow,” an impressionist reworking of “Over the Rainbow,” are close seconds.

Originally Published May 1, 2002