Home Game by Michael Moore Quintet

Michael Moore - alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet
Herb Robertson - trumpet, cornet
Fred Hersch - piano
Mark Helias - bass
Gerry Hemingway - drums

After being in Amsterdam on and off for ten years this was Moore’s first recording with a group of New York-based players. This is the result of an afternoon rehearsing, while watching the World Series, and a day recording with engineer Paul Wickliffe. The instrumentation is a traditional jazz quintet; the structures, all pieces by Moore, are attractive and engaging fantasies. All of the players are also composers and bandleaders.

"From the puckish polyphony of “Providence” to the lightly bouncing title track to the moody Ellingtonia cum Monk-hued “Debbie Warden”, this is a winning session packed with memorable melodies and some first-rate playing. Any sessions that features the distinctive cornet of Herb Robertson in ample doses are well worth hearing. The real surprise of the session is pianist Fred Hersch, who strikes just the right note. There’s even a bit of drama with his delayed entrance and crystalline solo on the aforementioned “Debbie Warden”. It’s a nice arrangement and a nice performance."

Robert Iannapollo, Cadence, May 1993

Michael Moore (1954, Eureka, California, USA) is a saxophone & clarinet player active primarily in Europe and North America playing creative jazz and improvised musics. He leads his own ensembles, works with the Instant Composers Pool Orchestra and many others, collaborates with dancers, teaches music at the Conservatory of Amsterdam in the Netherlands and produces recordings.

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