rating: 3 headphones

Sons of Sound is a New York label with a roster that includes drummer Akira Tana (whose CD has TanaReid partner Rufus on bass and Dr. Lonnie Smith), the American Saxophone Quartet (with Paquito D'Rivera guesting) and a number of the city's lesser-known young talents, who all seem to work on each other's dates. Shaven-headed Parsons, apparently, was a semi-finalist in the 2002 Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition. Monder, from memory, has played on some Fresh Sound New Talent albums, as well as working with Paul Motian's Electric Bebop Band, among others. The Parsons/Lewin project is very contemporary in comcept. Lewin seems to have a jazz-rock fusion approach and the drums work well with the tenor. All the tracks are originals (all have quirky titles and odd inspiration) except "East of the Sun," which is a good place to get into what they're doing. It's been reharmonised and re-grooved and sounds very now. The tenor-guitar front-line sometimes recalls the sound of Mark Turner and Kurt Rosenwinkel, but Monder (often with dark chords and unusual single lines, switching suddenly to heavy rock electric) is a very different player. Parsons' tenor would probably fit in well with the kind of musicians centered round Matt Wilson (check his challenging Humidity on Palmetto). He plays boldly and with confidence, searching for a personal style, reminding me at times of Rick Margitza. Guest Patitucci (who's featured on "Sun" and "Load Cycle") is excellent throughout. "Alone In The Loveseat," "Lot of Our Souls," "Load Cycle" (which has Parsons sologing sensitively on soprano) are possibly the pick of the originals. A grower. Worth investigating.

— Tony Hall, Jazzwise, July 2003

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