George Kontomichalis Quartet – First Flight (Album of the Month 02/26)

The very first notes of this album make you think for a moment that you are in New York in the late 1950s. A smoky bar shortly after midnight, dimmed lights, and a band whose exuberant enthusiasm does not exactly suggest that they will be leaving the stage in the next few hours.

But far from it: in fact, the George Kontomichalis Quartet is firmly anchored in the here and now, somewhere between Dresden, Leipzig, and Berlin. This is where the four musicians have learned their craft in recent years. The fact that they have done so with flying colors is made abundantly clear on "First Flight" by the ensemble led by the saxophonist and bandleader, who lives in the trade fair city: sometimes Charlie Parker sends his regards, sometimes John Coltrane comes around the corner to say hello.

Tracks such as "Message to Mccoy" and "Blues Menu" combine extraordinary virtuosity, stylistic confidence, and, yes, that certain something. Once you let yourself be drawn in by the sound, it carries you away—far away from the so-called present, into long-forgotten places and times. Or even to New York.