This post is by Dan
Recorded September 25, 1989
Nick Brignola was the type of musician that might be overlooked by casual jazz fans but on the playlists and in the collections of true jazz fans. His locational preference for upstate New York may have worked against his reputation, but his string of outstanding CDs on the Reservoir label from 1988 to 2003 ensures that his legacy will not be forgotten.
On a Different Level is an apt title because Brignola is playing at his best in this session. Joined by Kenny Barron, Dave Holland, and Jack DeJohnette, he turns in a transcendent performance on a diverse program featuring charts from Duke Ellington, Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus, Tadd Dameron, and Benny Carter as well as two standards. Different Level finds Brignola on baritone exclusively and focused on the up-tempo numbers, including a rousing "Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise" to close the program.
One track stands out as different from the others: Holland's brief "Backwoods Song." A longer version of it is the opening track of the first Gateway album (ECM, 1975), played by Holland, DeJohnette and John Abercrombie. It's a surprise to find it here and to hear how well the group embraces the song. Brignola chose "Backwoods Song" as the opening track of his later Tour de Force CD (Reservoir, 2001).
I suggest that an appropriate alternative title for On a Different Level would be The State of the Baritone 1989. (But then, I'm just a blogger, not a record producer.) It's as worthy a statement as Joe Henderson's celebrated State of the Tenor recordings, reviewed earlier. Brignola's statement is delivered without pretense or hype. It's straight-ahead modern bop that speaks for itself.
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