Ellen Rowe Quartet - Wishing Well

Wishing Well, the Ellen Rowe Quartet’s second release, is, among other things, a concise study in modern jazz composition for small ensembles. The only piece not composed by Ms. Rowe is the Dietz and Schwartz standard, “Alone Together.” Ms. Rowe’s music is highly structured yet rich with melodic, rhythmic and distinctive tonal assets ripe for development and improvisation. Broadly speaking the compositions are simply formatted—intro, theme, solos, theme and coda—but the thematic material is often a complex and multiple motif blending of lyrical melodies and uncommon rhythmic and tonal attributes. These fertile concepts are often elaborately developed before the improvisational sections begin. Tenor and soprano saxophonist, Andrew Bishop, is also an accomplished composer (though not on this recording) as admirably demonstrated through his deft handling of the thematic resources at hand. The other two members of the quartet are Kurt Krahnke on bass and Pete Siers on drums. They are joined on two tracks (“For That Which Was Living, Lost” and “Longing”) by Ingrid Jensen (Berklee College of Music, Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra) on flugelhorn...MORE...