Jared Sims The New York Sessions

Jared Sims
The New York Sessions
Ropeadope

While his prior album, "Change of Address" focused on his baritone playing, Jared Sims' new release presents him also on tenor sax as he focuses on what New York City meant to him when he lived there and performed regularly at clubs like The Knitting Factory, Wetland's, and Brooklyn's Tea Lounge. Now Director of Jazz Studies at West Virginia University, he leads a quartet of Chris McCarthy on piano, Alex Tremblay on bass and Evan Hyde on drums for what is simplistically described as a straight-ahead, hard-bop recording.

Sims opens with "Tribeca Tap Bar," a swinging performance with a Brazilian tinge begins with Sims taking a relaxed, energetic solo followed by solos from McCarthy and Tremblay. The rhythm section gets an emphatic groove going on "Wetlands Preserved," with Sims playing forcefully on a number that commemorates a now closed venue. "Brooklyn Tea" has a reflective quality as the pace cools with Sims playing authoritatively on baritone sax. From the title, "The Bodega," one might expect a salsa groove, but the performance is a charming number on which Sims exhibits a lyrical and romantic quality.  The closing "Pelham" is enlivened by an imaginative drum solo.

In addition to Sims' robust saxophone, his rhythm section deserves applause in how they support and complement him along with thoughtful and well-constructed solos. These ingredients make for an impressive recording.

I received a review copy from a publicist. This review originally appeared in the January-February Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 382), Here is "Tribeca Tap Bar," from "The New York Sessions."