Vertessen, Raf
el Negocito, 2020, CD
Instrument: Drums
Issue: 26.3
Jazz Ruler Type: Avant Garde
Performance: 3
Sound: 3
Score: 63
O’s Notes: Belgian drummer and composer RAF Vertessen arrived in Brooklyn several years ago and now leads a quartet with Anna Webber (t-sax), Adam O’ Farrill (t) and Nick Dunston (b). LOI is Raf’s debut recording. It starts out slowly with the title track and the music becomes increasingly more engaging. Fully warmed up, the band excelled on the second half of the recording. The best bets are the spontaneous layering of the horns on “Fake 3-7” and “Cardinal 2-3”
Publicist: Fully Altered Media