Review Text
The Wire ( UK ): Van Kemenade with his slightly raw, honey-and pepper sound which lends itself to both outside and more conventional repertory performance. An essential lyric player. Exquisite. Jazzman ( FR ): ***** (choc de mars 2009) Duos, trios, quintet et un 'all star' (sur le DVD en bonus) d'un des plus brillants saxophonistes européens au jour d'aujourd'hui. Un total bonheur de jazz. De vraies compositions rappelant des classiques des fifties .Pour autant, le traitement est celui d'un saxophonist alto actuel don't le son évoque autant Cannonball que John Zorn. Un classicism plongeant ses raciness chez Benny Carter ou Johnny Hodges et qui aurait entendu Ornette comme Rudresh Mahanthappa. Cadence (USA): The vivid creativity of writing struck me immediately: the title track (No Way Station) uses seven instruments in such varied, shifting ways that they at times sound like two small groups going in parallel but contrasting directions, sometimes like a shouting big band over funk-driven rhythms. It is a change from the usual ensemble-soloist format, and it hints at everything from Parker and Gil Evans back to New Orleans street music. On the duets between Van Kemenade and pianists Busch or Braam, the leader suggests that he would have fit into a gospel group or a Ray Charles big band. Intense and sometimes rough, his playing hints at a fierce version of Phil Woods. Occasionally Van Kemenade's lines are repetitive in the manner of Steve Reich, but he never stays stuck in one groove. The closing three selections are explorations of the possibilities for Jazz soloists and strings: they are alluring but not sweet.
