Monday, March 15, 2010

Troy Roberts Double Quartet - The XenDen Suite

Troy Roberts the Xen Suite
Troy Roberts began playing saxophone at the age of 13 and his ascending career has been a productive one comprised of scholarships, honors, degrees, awards and extensive touring with some amazing musicians, but his beautiful tone, his amazing performances and his composing abilities are what ultimately reunite all these elements to put his talent in the forefront of the Jazz scene. His latest production is proof of that. The XenDen Suite is Troy Roberts’ dedication to celebrating the life of one of his closest friends, the late Alan Corbet (1964–2008), who was an amazing man with incredible vision and a driving force of the West Australian Jazz scene. Corbet created a label, XenDen Music, specifically designed for original and independent musicians. This suite is a fully extended performance in its entirety. Once you start listening to the warm and melancholic Part 1, the rest of the pieces fall into place as one. One can feel the sensitivity and longing for a lost friend through the creative yet fierce compositions and the performances, which display a kind of virtuosity rare to the jazz circles these days. The addition of a string quartet to conform this double quartet creates a texture not seen since the days of Chick Corea’s works for piano and strings, marvelously achieved by the grace of the arrangements. Personnel are: Troy Roberts on saxophones, Tom O'Halloran on piano, Peter Jeavons on bass, Daniel Susnjar on drums, Semra Lee and Stephanie Dean on violins, Alex Brogan on viola, Matthew Hoy on cello, Alex Millier on bass clarinet, Gary Keller on flute, alto flute and Libby Hammer on voice.


Track Listing:
1. Part 1: Tebrocnala
2. Part 2: Freebie (sampled above)
3. Part 3: Feb 19
4. Part 4: Memorialization
5. Part 5: Villa
6. Part 6: The Scotsman's Waltz
7. Part 7: La Brecaton Minute
8. Part 8: Finale
Buy it at CD Babyor

1 comment:

  1. Thanks soo much for this review! I have a brand new album out. Be great if you could review it too. Let me know how i can get it to you www.cdbaby.com/cd/troyroberts4

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