Credits:

Yvonnick Prene

Description:

Jeremy Pelto (tp), Kevin Hayes (p), and Bill Stuart (d)! French-born chromatic harmonica player Ivonique Prehn, first new album in four years, recorded in the traditional Van Gelder studio with excellent sound quality. He studied at the Sorbonne, Columbia University, City College of New York, and the New School, among others, with Lee Konitz, Charles Persip, Charles Tolliver, and Reggie Workman, and has been based in New York City since 2007. This is his first new work in four years, since his last album "New York Moments" (Steeplechase, 2019). For this album, the trumpet was eliminated from the jazz quintet and replaced with a chromatic harmonica in order to convincingly demonstrate that the harmonica is a suitable instrument for jazz improvisation. The harmonica, which has the same range as the trumpet and blends well with the lower register of the tenor saxophone, fits well into this ensemble format. (However, trumpeter Jeremy Pelto participates on one track.) chosen for the recording session was the legendary Rudy Van Gelder Studio. Kevin Hayes (p), a friend from The New School, Clovis Nicholas (b), Bill Stewart (d), and trumpet virtuoso Jeremy Pelto were invited to produce and direct the session. Clovis Nicholas' lighthearted arrangement of Miles Davis' "Dig" features a wonderful blend of harmonica and saxophone that gives the song new life. The minor blues "Mystic Minor," inspired by Horace Silver and Benny Golson, and the fiercely swinging "The Dip" are Pren's originals. The beautiful ballad "Just Have Faith," written by bassist Lorin Cohen, and Miles and Victor Feldman's "Seven Steps To Heaven," with producer Pelto's charismatic trumpet on a dotted upbeat, are all 1950s and The band melded respect for the classic jazz quintets of the 1960s with ambitious experimentation to create a sound that was uniquely its own.

Tracklisting:

1.Dig
2.Mystic Minor
3.The Dip
4.Boosted
5.Just Have Faith
6.Seven Steps To Heaven
7.She's Funny
8.That Way
9.How Am I To Know