"It seems that with each subsequent album, tenor saxist JD Allen is focusing on turning his horn into a musical fog machine a la Ben Webster. Fewer notes and more mist reaches its height here with Allen in a trio format with Ian Kenselaar on bass and drummer Nic Cacioppo".
Dusted
d. 20. aug. 2020
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Derek Taylor
d. 20. aug. 2020
"Tenorist JD Allen has averaged an album a year for the last dozen years as a leader. All but one entry in that tally adheres to the trio format first made famous by Sonny Rollins on a string of dates for assorted labels in the 1950s for eschewing the presence of a conventional chordal instrument. To the unexposed ear, such a reliance on repetition of ensemble framework might infer musical redundancy. Toys/ Die Dreaming, Allen's fourteenth as frontman, once again reveals the contrary ... Allen's influences and predilections are never arcane or contrived. That unerring and infectious aplomb once again carries the day here".
"By mashing up the names of two individualistic tunes, tenorist JD Allen arrived at the title of his new album, Toys/Die Dreaming ... Whatever the metaphoric meaning, the recording rings with intention ... He's dreaming, still".