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Nick Bisesi Free Time (Hallway, 2000)
Reviewed by Micah Holmquist
April 8, 2000

Nick Bisesi (alto saxophone, flute),
Pete McCann (guitar),
Sean Conly (bass),
Owen Howard (drums),
David Liebman (soprano and tenor saxophones)

It may or may not be a good thing that it is hard to describe Free Time without saying how much the music sounds like it is coming from a few jazz greats. On one hand, it means that the music won’t be displeasing to the ear but it could also suggest a lack of creativity on the part of saxophonist Nick Bisesi and the other musicians.

Nowhere is this more evident than on Bisesi’s version of Ornette Coleman’s 1959 classic "Peace." The biggest difference between the two versions is that of instrumentation; guitarist Pete McCann takes the place of Don Cherry on cornet in this version. Bisesi, Bassist Sean Conly, and Drummer Owen Howard all seem to fit with ease into the roles of Coleman, Charlie Haden, and Billy Higgins respectively. For his part, McCann can’t come as close to duplicating Cherry’s sound as the others but he plays a very similar role in the overall scheme of things. It is certainly impressive that all of the players could do such a good job of capturing the feel and style of a cut from the session that produced the landmark recording The Shape of Jazz to Come. But after repeated spins, the novelty of Bisesi’s cover wears off. Instead of being impressive or even a homage, the influences become stifling and it becomes clear that this version of "Peace" is merely a rehash of the original and will warrant little consideration in the future.

Fortunately there is better stuff on Free Time. From soul jazz to fusion to bebop and the avant-garde, the group moves from one style to another without getting lost. It is thus noteworthy that the group recorded all of these tracks in a single session on September 8, 1997.

The playing of both Conly and Howard is solid throughout, as is the saxophone work of David Liebman who shows up for two. More impressive is the McCann who tips his hat to more than one jazz axe great. On "Knee High by the Fourth of July" -a Bisesi original- the guitarist sounds as if he is Sonny Sharrock on some that late master’s recordings for the Enemy label in the second half of the 1980s. Later on in the disc, the group covers the Sam Rivers tune "Beatrice" and McCann sounds much more like Wes Montgomery. These stylistic references are accurate but a touch limiting. McCann never just cops either player’s sound and does take the music in new directions. Still the guitarist is clearly making forays off the paths that Montgomery and Sharrock blazed.

Despite being the leader, Bisesi does not come across as especially impressive. He is able to play the diverse styles but fails to really connect most of the time. The one exception to this is his self-penned title cut. Here Bisesi gives listeners a free but melodic and cheerful sax workout that they will not quickly forget.

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