John Petrucelli Quintet - The Way (2015) lossless

The temptation, upon hearing John Petrucelli’s uncanny flow and remarkable command of his tenor sax in all registers on tunes like the suite-like opener “Arrows of Longing,” the cascading “Boots” or his superb take on the sumptuous 1948 ballad “Early Autumn,” is to say: “Where has this cat been?” The New Jersey native spent some time in the Virginia-D.C. area working with trumpeter John D’Earth and in New Orleans, where he played in trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis’ group, before returning to the New Jersey-New York area to attend Rutgers University studying under Stanley Cowell, Charles Tolliver and Ralph Bowen, and finally relocating to Pittsburgh where he currently resides. The gifted 26-year-old now makes a startlingly mature, fully realized statement as player-composer-bandleader on his auspicious debut. Surrounded by a first-rate crew of New York players, kindred spirits and marvelous improvisers -- pianist Victor Gould, guitarist Peter Park, bassist Alexander Claffy, drummer Gusten Rudolph and special guest drummer Victor Lewis on three tracks -- Petrucelli weds astounding technique to harmonic and rhythmic invention and a forceful sense of swing on The Way.
A cursory listen to his flowing and intense tenor lines on any number of tunes here, from the urgently burning “The Flip” to “For Dawn” (dedicated to vocalist Dawn Thompson) to his forceful opus “Hil’s Blues,” will invite comparisons to such modern tenor titans and role models as Ralph Bowen, Michael Brecker, Chris Potter, Mark Turner and Donny McCaslin. But Petrucelli is also quick to point out the towering influence of Lennie Tristano disciple Warne Marsh, he of the long flowing line and vertical improvisation concept. In fact, Petrucelli did a harmonic analysis of Marsh’s recordings as his master thesis at Rutgers, and he takes those lessons to heart on The Way.