1. Haden [3:32]
2. Soft [5:22]
3. Stick Tune [9:44]
4. Metals [9:43]
5. Freezaj [10:01]
6. Leaves [4:21]
7. Polytonal Suite [5:04]
8. Ballad [3:30]
9. Number 4 [19:40]

Yoni Kretzmer - tenor sax 
Reuben Radding - double bass 
Sean Conly - double bass 
Mike Pride – drums

Israeli, New York-based sax player Yoni Kretzmer career is characterized in his slow-burning evolution with no rush to release his music. Three years have passed since the debut release of his 2Bass Quartet - featuring double bass players Reuben Radding and Sean Conly and drummer Mike Pride, Weight (OutNow Recordings, 2012), until his own label released the quartet's sophomore album. In a similar manner, Kretzmer is not a leader that insists on controlling every aspect of his compositions. He trusts the quartet to follow his loose “written ideas”, letting them breathe and blossom organically, in emphatic yet open interplay, but leaving enough space and freedom for the personal contributions of all the musicians. Still, it is clear that Kretzmer feels at home with this quartet that challenges him and utilizes his qualities as a leader and improviser to the fullest.

Kretzmer describes the quartet as an outfit whose “earthiness” has become its trademark, and its raison d'être: “to manage to dive into the pits of the earth while maintaining a certain clarity and vividness, as tough seeing while having mud in the eyes”. This colorful description gives some idea about the quartet sound - grainy, unpolished and encompassing the lower registers, as if Kretzmer furious tenor shrieks aim to pierce the sonic walls comprised of dark, resonating double basses and pounding drums.

As on the quartet's debut, the sonic territory is still in the most adventurous terrains of free jazz; music based on intuition, power and energy, gravitating into cathartic climaxes, as when it is tapping to the legacy of the American fiery free jazz on “Freezaj” or on climatic, 20-minutes of “Number 4”. But the 2Bass Quartet has more than just power and energy in its can. Relying on its accumulative experience and strong bond as a working group and its musicians individual experiences as leaders in their own right, Kretzmer enables enough freedom to allow some chaotic, messy interplay, trusting the quartet to adopt again his ideas. The quartet experiences the full spectrum of its heavy rhythm section and plays on sifting pulses as on “Polytonal Suite”. It is not shy from expressing its emotional side through the more common stormy intensity, as on the opening “Haden”, a sort of homage to the late Charlie Haden, the gentle “Leaves” or the simple “Ballad”. --- Eyal Hareuveni, freejazzblog.org

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1. Number One 10:40
2. Giving Tree 8:34
3. Smallone 2:51
4. Again And Again 6:57
5. Number Three 10:01
6. A Bit Of Peace 5:52
7. Detail 1:06
8. GT Reprise 4:18

Yoni Kretzmer - tenor saxophone
Sean Conly - double bass
Reuben Radding - double bass
Mike Pride - drums

Israeli saxophonist Yoni Kretzmer is one of the promising musicians that emerged from Israel's small and familiar scene. He has a unique musical vision, is well-versed in the history of the forward-thinking genres of jazz and is fearless and ambitious. So it is no surprise that, after relocating to New York, he formed a working group with local, like-minded musicians.

The 2Bass Quartet debut is released after a yearlong series of performances that solidified the sonic aesthetics of the quartet: a deeper, open sound that enjoys the emphatic interplay between bass players Sean Conly and Reuben Radding; the sketchy time-keeping of drummer Mike Pride; and Kretzmer's assured sax playing and unorthodox musical ideas.

All compositions were written by Kretzmer and leave room for everyone in the quartet. The opening "Number One" is typical to the repertoire of this quartet, moving organically between slow, expressive and contemplative playing that includes remarkable arco bass duets, to soaring sax outbursts and powerful drumming; but it has a clear melodic narrative. "Giving Tree" and its shorter reprise version "GT Reprise"—as well as "Again And Again" and " A Bit Of Peace"—are based on a loose structure that enable the quartet to move instantly from tight, rhythmic segments to subdued free improvised parts that highlight the two distinct sounds of its bassists, the telepathic communication between Kretzmer and Pride, and the passionate playing of all four musicians.

"Number Three" sound as if all four musicians are pushing into different roads. Pride is busy articulating a rolling rhythm while Conly and Radding improvise on abstract deep tones and Kretzmer produces low, whispering sounds. Surprisingly, these counter-musical acts eventually form a massive, cohesive sonic entity that manifests the essence of the quartet. Each member can lead and challenge the other musicians with his own ideas, but everyone is tuned and responsive to each others' contributions. Deep listening and immediate, intuitive creativity.

A remarkable debut that demands future documents from this quartet. ---Eyal Hareuveni, allaboutjazz.com

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