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Tenor saxophonist Bill McHenry has been one of the most exciting, sophisticated players on the New York scene over the last decade, expertly squaring a more restrained and measured approach to improvisation and a curious, progressive sensibility. He made a series of excellent albums with the drummer Paul Motian—something of a model for McHenry, approachwise, despite their much different instruments; smart, melodic, and endlessly exploratory. Last year he formed a new band that placed his music in a context poles apart from most of his previous work. In the company of pianist Orrin Evans, bassist Eric Revis (who together with drummer Nasheet Waits are the excellent Tarbaby), and veteran drummer Andrew Cyrille—a free jazz pioneer known for his early work with Cecil Taylor as well as his own band Maono, where he introduced the late saxophonist David S. Ware to the jazz world—McHenry presents a more intense, scalding style heavily invested in the sound of John Coltrane.
