Walt Weiskopf - Sleepless Nights - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Walt Weiskopf's eighth recording for Criss Cross is a ten-part suite for jazz sextet. A celebration of the relationship between various art forms, the suite was inspired by the graphic art of modern masters ranging from Dali, to Picasso, to van Gogh. Weiskopf utilizes elements of jazz and classical music, skillfully integrating improvisation and written themes. The CD is brought to life by Weiskopf and his longtime associates alto saxophonist Andy Fusco, trombonist John Mosca, pianist Joel Weiskopf, bassist Doug Weiss and drummer Billy Drummond.

On Walk in the Woods, his latest Criss Cross leader date, Walt Weiskopfupholds the high standards he's set on his previous nine albums for the tag. Here he leads a hand-picked octet, each of the five horns is a veteran section player with extraordinary improvisational skills, including Criss Cross veterans Andy Fusco and Gary Smulyan, propelled by a rhythm section comprising the extraordinary young drummer Kendrick Scott, best known as Terence Blanchard's drummer, and the harmonically informed pianist and bassist Peter Zak and Doug Weiss, through a suite of eight heady originals and a rearranged standard.

Tenor saxophonist's second Criss Cross outing backed by Larry Golding's-Hammond B-3, Peter Bernstein-gtr, Bill Stewart-dms, 8 Weiskopf originals.