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Alto saxophonist Mike DiRubbo has been around the New York scene for a while, doing the straight-ahead hard-bop thing. He studied with Jackie McLean, and has played with a number of highly regarded musicians older than himself, including Eddie Henderson, John Hicks and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown. Chronos is his sixth CD as a leader, and his second for the Posi-Tone label. On his last album, 2009′s Repercussion, he fronted a band featuring vibes, bass and drums. This time out, he’s stripped it down to organ and drums (played by Brian Charette and Rudy Royston, respectively), and the results are stark and at times surprisingly hard-hitting. It would be unfair to suggest that this is an assaultive or even especially free record. Most any Larry Young Blue Note album would offer a greater level of raw abstraction; DiRubbo is a blues- and bop-based, swinging player, and given that every track here is either one of his compositions or written by Charette, the general vibe is one of soulfulness and groove. And yet…there’s some aggression here that vaults Chronos out of the pack of boring, hockey-rink organ-jazz discs. There are moments, during Charette’s solo on the title track, that almost venture into Keith Emerson (of Emerson, Lake & Palmer) territory, and later in the same piece, DiRubbo latches onto a three-note phrase and goes after it like a dentist drilling into the listener’s back-most molar, before embarking on a solo with some surprisingly screechy, harsh moments. That solo’s an exception, though. For most of the disc, DiRubbo is the stabilizing force, attempting to keep things in a gently bopping zone that wouldn’t throw the folks who come to jazz clubs to eat wildly overpriced chicken entrees. But Charette seems bent on subversion; at the end of “Excellent Taste,” which he wrote, he plays a hypnotic, almost psychedelic pattern as the track fades down, and it’s the best thing about the piece. Similarly, his work on the bluesy “Eight for Elvin” is weirder than it needs to be; some of his lines sound more indebted to Ray Manzarek of the Doors than to Jimmy Smith, John Patton or any other jazz organ player. Meanwhile, Rudy Royston attacks the drums with more than enough force to justify the track being titled in tribute to Elvin Jones, known as one of jazz’s hardest hitters during his time with John Coltrane. Royston also drives the band quite hard on the hammering (“uptempo” doesn’t do it justice) “Rituals,” and even when he’s laying down a relatively staid Latin groove (“Lilt,” which lives up to its title), he finds a way to do something interesting. And on the album’s closing track, “More Physical,” which could have been a deal-breaker, given that DiRubbo plays the (ugh) soprano sax, the drummer throws in enough unexpected accents with the toms and the rim of the snare that things stay interesting all the way to the four-minute mark (of five and a half), when the leader’s solo becomes quite shockingly piercing, as though Najee had suddenly become possessed by Evan Parker. The piece ends in soul jazz-meets-free jazz territory, which ought to come as a major surprise to fans of DiRubbo, Posi-Tone Records, and sax-organ-drums combos alike. This isn’t a skronky album by any means. But if you put it on and expect to curl up on your couch with a book, don’t be surprised if you find yourself glancing worriedly at the speakers a time or two.

communities.canada.com

Chronos (Posi-Tone)
Mike DiRubbo

Chronos, from alto saxophonist Mike DiRubbo, is a quintessentially Posi-Tone jazz CD that delivers high-level post-bop pleasures. DiRubbo’s a direct and passionate player who’s steeped in the power and modal prowess of icons such as John Coltrane and Kenny Garrett, as you can see from this clip:

On his new CD, DiRubbo leads a trio that includes the solid and soulful organist Brian Charette and the crisp and explosive drummer Rudy Royston through nine no-nonsense blowing vehicles of his own devising. The playing’s always committed and eloquent, and DiRubbo explores different moods within the post-bop box, from on the dark, sophisticated, Woody Shaw-style title track on one end to the loping, uplifting Excellent Taste to the more straightforward swingers Eight For Elvin and Lucky 13. The highlights come, in my opinion, when Royston pulls out the stops, which most notably happens on the disc’s brisk, punchy opener Minor Process, on More Physical, the simple but substantial disc-closer that features DiRubbo’s soprano saxophone, and on the taut groove tune Rituals.

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 ejazznews.com

CD Reviews: Mike DiRubbo – “Chronos” – CD-2011 Posi-Tone Records Posted by: editoron Sunday, March 27, 2011 – 04:02 PM

Glenn AstaritaWest Coast USA based Posi-Tone Records continues to amass an impressive catalog built on promising young talent and well-known artists. Here, saxophonist Mike DiRubbo conveys a modern era spin on the traditional jazz-organ trio methodology while projecting a democratic group-centric mindset into the program. DiRubbo and organist Brian Charette’s compositions generate staying power. Otherwise, DiRubbo is a smooth operator and dishes out more than enough pop and sizzle while sporting a fluent and radiant line of attack. Moreover, the trio lashes out with a consortium of precision-oriented unison choruses and off-kilter tonal contrasts within various modalities. On the title piece “Chronos,” the frontline enjoys smooth sailing with a medium-tempo swing vamp amid a scrappy bridge, propelled by Rudy Royston’s sweeping drums. Surprisingly enough, the soloists morph the proceedings into minimalist territory with a repetitive and simple theme during the bridge. Then DiRubbo soars into the upper register to complement the intermittent detours, nooks and crannies. The band intertwines aggressive frameworks with fluid bop motifs and lighthearted balladry. Charette’s “More Physical,” is the album closer and boasts an endearing harmonic vista via DiRubbo’s melodious soprano sax work and a memorable hook that is taken to a high-impact coda. On this piece, the band becomes ‘more physical,’ moving forward, spiced by the leader’s darting notes and Charette’s clustering organ voicings. Overall, it’s a grand showing by a band that seamlessly merges superior technical acumen with vision, strong compositions and enough diversions to sustain interest on a continual basis. A persuasive outing indeed… – Glenn Astarita Mike DiRubbo (alto, soprano saxophone), Brian Charette (organ), Rudy Royston (drums) http://www.mikedirubbo.com https://www.posi-tone.com

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Saxophonist Mike DiRubbo’s new album Chronos is a refreshingly different kind of B3 jazz album. Not that there’s anything wrong with funky organ shuffles, it’s just a lot of fun discovering something this different and rewarding. Here Brian Charette’s Hammond organ functions more like a piano or a guitar, comping chords, providing atmosphere rather than amping the funk factor to eleven. The way his chords are voiced is particularly cool – sometimes they evoke a guitar, other times they edge closer to soul music, more like Booker T. Jones than Jimmy Smith. Drummer Rudy Royston leaves a lot more space here than he usually does and keeps you wanting more – his signature rolls are there, but sometimes miles apart, or so it seems. It’s more of a challenge than a stretch for the rhythm section, an obviously enjoyable one and that translates for the listener. DiRubbo plays alto and soprano here, moving from matter-of-factly catch melodic excursions to the occasional wailing explosion: he doesn’t overemote or waste notes.

They don’t waste time getting going with the wryly titled, briskly scurrying Minor Progress, DiRubbo veering in and out of focus, Charette’s carbonated bursts evoking a late 60s/early 70s art-rock ambience and a little Royston break that only hints at what he’s capable of. The carefree, swinging title track has DiRubbo opening it using a pitch pedal for some simple chords and then choosing his spots judiciously, Charette following in the same vein until a rare squall from the sax over a hypnotically intensifying organ vamp. Another aptly titled one, Lilt, a jazz waltz, pairs off DiRubbo lyricism against Charette’s minimalist lines; the seriously catchy Rituals has the sax cleverly scraping the sidewalls of a circular organ lick, again hypnotically.

Charette has some songs here too. Nouveau, a cheerful ballad, pairs expansive sax against a velvety backdrop; another well-titled one, Excellent Taste has Charette matching DiRubbo’s fluid extrapolations, Royston unable to resist a jab or two on the toms here and there. And the absolutely gorgeous More Physical runs a catchy circular hook to a big, blustering, swirling soprano solo. The closest thing to a classic Jimmy Smith style B3 shuffle is Lucky 13, which benefits from DiRubbo holding it back from cliche territory, and Eight for Elvin, which they throw to Royston and he absolutely owns it – when DiRubbo goes insistent and wailing with the drums guarding the edges aggressively, it’s exquisite. Three guys on top of their game with some great songs. It’s out now on Posi-Tone; DiRubbo plays the cd release show for this one on March 24 at 9 at Smalls.