Full Cream

Greg Ward, Ziv Ravitz, Matthew Stevens and Leo Genovese

 Sugah Hoof

This quartet, Full Cream, came together partly due to serendipity and partly subsequent planning. In any case, the four had never made a recording as a unit until now. The linchpin in this gathering is the great bassist Linda May Han Oh, who hired alto saxophonist Greg Ward and drummer Ziv Ravitz for her Fall 2021 tour.  The two had never played together but developed instand chemistry that led them to consider a duet album. Soon they saw a need for a third member, tapping Grammy winner and Teri Lyne Carrington staple, guitarist and bassist Matthew Stevens, who had also been integral to Oh’s ensembles in the past. The stage was set for a trio recording but delays in finding a date proved fortuitous as they agreed on adding a fourth member, Grammy winning keyboardist Leo Genovese, who fortunately was available for the session. Ward hails from Chicago, Ravitz in the south of France, Stevens in the Boston area, and Genovese in NYC. Only in jazz can such far flung geographies mesh as one.

They each brought in partially developed compositions and worked in a group to flesh out the arrangements and orchestration ideas for these eight pieces. As the cliche goes, they left their egos at the door. The result is semi-fusion as Genovese plays primarily B3, along with piano and synths, Stevens plays electic and acoustic guitars with an array of effects, Ward plays alto and synths, and Ravitz plays drums and various percussion. That;s three of the four members adding synths to their primary instruments, producing both experimentation and fun along the way.

Opening “Nobodies” sets Ward on alto and Stevens on electric guitar richocheting lines off each other as Ravitz maintains a thick, steady groove in this jagged, fiery piece which leans in heavily to rock, with Stevens as the featured soloist.  Ravitz’s “Late” is the opposite, a pensive piece with elongated resonating lines with mulitple synths entering the fray, albeit quietly as Ward blows soft tones above the electronic backdrop, soon joined by Stevens as Ravitz keeps stirring steadily with Genovese setting an atmospheric layer behind it before his B3 takes on psychedelic shadings in the latter half, the piece decelerating as a train coming to halt before the sonics rise up conclusively with Ward’s alto.

Two pieces by Ward are especially intriguing. “Good Morning Zebras,” compsed specifically for this group, bears similar sounds to his group Rogue Parade, with the focus here on the composer’s lyricism and Genovese’s wide-ranging keyboard talents as he seems to play his entire arsenal on this one over another thick groove laid down by Ravitz.  “Argeo” is dedicated to a time in Ward’s life when he spent hours woodshedding in the basement of his parents’ home in Argo, IL. The quartet is unleashed here, flying high to a fast tempo and Ravitz’s percolating kit work.  The abrupt ending comes as a jolt but Stevens on bass quickly intros “Improv,” which could just as easily be the name of the prior piece, had it not been for Ward’s nostalgia. In this same grouping is “Sublime Engine,” a mysterious tune with Ward’s crafty use of effects on his horn in a piece so quiet and dramatic, it’s like one of those Halloween attractions where you’re just poised to have the actor jump out from a hidden space to scare you. Stevens’ arco bass blending with his ringing guitars, synths, and Ward’s alto create some of the most intriguing harmonics on the disc in this track.

The title track is another of the spacey variety, with the ever churning Ravitz  behind Genovese’s judicious piano notes and runs (and later B3) while Ward and Stevens together explore the outer realms in a piece that beautifully interesects the through composed and improvised.  Ravitz keeps it from going off the rails which it threatens to so several times.  True to form, the quartet is back to their pensive, more ethereal state in the closer “Shadows on the Wall,” blending their voices effectively as they did on “Sublme Engine.”

Grab your headphones. Full Cream is bound to transport you to the outer realms.

–  Jim Hynes

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