Cadence Magazine
…they show that freedom encompasses many colors and is not limited by matters of stylistic or musical dogma.
…Coming out of the Lacy tradition, as evidence of the opening track, they thrive on ambiguous harmonies and large dissonant leaps in the service of restraint. They make a beautiful sound, even putting their own spin on the Blues in the succinct and contagiously cool “Follow Me”. Muscle can be used, as it is used during the drum solo that opens “Bells”, a study in hypnotic dissonance and its resolution. An air of nostalgia pervades “Black Tide”, but it’s almost void of recognizable harmonic resolution as it wends a slithery path forwards.
- Marc Medwin
…they show that freedom encompasses many colors and is not limited by matters of stylistic or musical dogma.
…Coming out of the Lacy tradition, as evidence of the opening track, they thrive on ambiguous harmonies and large dissonant leaps in the service of restraint. They make a beautiful sound, even putting their own spin on the Blues in the succinct and contagiously cool “Follow Me”. Muscle can be used, as it is used during the drum solo that opens “Bells”, a study in hypnotic dissonance and its resolution. An air of nostalgia pervades “Black Tide”, but it’s almost void of recognizable harmonic resolution as it wends a slithery path forwards.
- Marc Medwin
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The new CD by the quartet 53 Stations could work best in bars with ambience. Its gritty uncompromising edge goes down easily, and the original tunes look back to glory days and forward to new vistas.
The group, founded by South Jersey-based saxophonist Jason Shapiro and Wilmington drummer Skip Rohrich, often plays around Philly, and was formed to celebrate neglected works of such folks as Steve Lacy, Herbie Nichols and Greg Osby. But here the neglected works are all originals by either the two leaders or bassist Dylan Taylor.
The tunes, with trumpeter Bob Meashey, are on the pleasant side of hard bop; they show no quarter, and are graceful about it. Rohrich’s title track has a persuasive flow, while Taylor’s “Sweet 16″ is reasonably winsome. Shapiro shows himself to be a storyteller as he unwinds a solo on his “Page 3.”
- Karl Stark
The new CD by the quartet 53 Stations could work best in bars with ambience. Its gritty uncompromising edge goes down easily, and the original tunes look back to glory days and forward to new vistas.
The group, founded by South Jersey-based saxophonist Jason Shapiro and Wilmington drummer Skip Rohrich, often plays around Philly, and was formed to celebrate neglected works of such folks as Steve Lacy, Herbie Nichols and Greg Osby. But here the neglected works are all originals by either the two leaders or bassist Dylan Taylor.
The tunes, with trumpeter Bob Meashey, are on the pleasant side of hard bop; they show no quarter, and are graceful about it. Rohrich’s title track has a persuasive flow, while Taylor’s “Sweet 16″ is reasonably winsome. Shapiro shows himself to be a storyteller as he unwinds a solo on his “Page 3.”
- Karl Stark