home / discography/ Ernst Bier - Mack Goldsbury / Persuasive Freedom

Ernst Bier / Mack Goldsbury Quartet
 "Persuasive Freedom"
Jazzwerkstatt – jw305

In 1994 Ernst Bier and Mack Goldsbury decided to form a collaborative band. In the meantime, more than 25 years have passed, and the list of musicians who have participated in this band is very long... [more]

 Cover: Herbert Weisrock

Mack Goldsbury - tenor-, sopransax, flute

Rolf Zielke – piano

Erik Unsworth – bass,

Ernst Bier - drums

Special guest. Kevin Burrell – percussion

Recorded live at Greve Studio – Berlin July 01.- 02. 2019

www.greve-studio.de

Sound engineer: Volker Greve

Mixed: Volker Greve

Mastered: Volker Greve

Producer: Ernst Bier

Executive Producer: Ulli Blobel

Design: Herbert Weisrock

Ernst Bier plays Pommerenke Drums - www.schlagzeugbetreuung.de

Linernotes

In 1994 Ernst Bier and Mack Goldsbury decided to form a collaborative band. In the meantime, more than 25 years have passed, and the list of musicians who have participated in this band is very long. A total of four CDs have been released, featuring Reggie Moore, Martin Lillich, Herb Robertson, Frank Möbus, Ed Schuller, Maciej Fortuna and Mathias Bätzel, among others. The current quartet, featuring pianist Rolf Zielke and bassist Erik Unsworth, who hails from El Paso, Texas, has been in existence since 2016, and these recordings were made in July 2019 at the Greve recording studio in Berlin. As a guest, the American jazz percussionist Kevin Burrell, who lives in Berlin, participated on three tracks.
You can expect a CD with extraordinary and exciting music ......... let yourself be carried away by the musicians' joy of playing!!!

Press

In 1992 drummer Ernst Bier (born 1951) and saxophonist Mack Goldsbury (born 1946) from NYC moved to Bertin, where they formed a band in 1994. Since 2016, the quartet exists in the current lineup. The eleven tracks on this album are mostly written by Goldsbury, two by

Erik Unsworth, the Texan on bass, and one by pianist Rolf Zielke. Together with "Soulful Bill" by Jazz Messenger James Williams, whose folk song character is highlighted by the tenor and soprano saxophonist on piccolo, they are the stuff of coherent and atmospheric interplay between soul-jazz and postbop. All the songs have what it takes to become standards and are interpreted powerfully and often swinging in the tradition of the 1970s, so that one almost feels transported to a live concert.

In "Time on Monday, the solos, including that of guest percussionist Kevin Burrell, another American in Bertin, are embedded in a repeated hymn marked by drums and sax. The lyrical " Samba Macumba " is not only hymn-like, there's something magical about it. The program is nicely balanced between driving numbers and intense ballads. Bier's polyrhythmic playing stands on equal footing with the co-leader's husky and melodically singing tenor sax. The catchy song character of "Persistance", the fervor of " Incandescent " are just as gripping as the propulsive title track. But "Soulful" would also have been a fitting CD name.

                              Jazz Podium März-April 2022  Godehard Lutz

Ernst Bier and the Mack Goldsbury Quartet play gracefully and delight us with beautiful improvisations and a groovy rhythm section. Fresh, full of charm and joy of making music.

                                                                                                 jazz-fun.de

Drummer Ernst Bier and saxophonist/flutist Mack Goldsbury have been

together in various settings since 1994, and they have been flanked by

Rolf Zielke (p) and Erik Unsworth (b) since 2016. Musically, celebrated

joy of playing is at the center of the original compositions between bop

and swing. Ernst Bier garnishes all this with tasteful drumming and that

is in this case not only the drumset but also the percussion played by

Kevin Burrell. All this not only gives the arrangement and improvisation,

but also gives the melody its space.

                                         drums & percussion 3 / 2022 Ingo Baron