While the Gate Is Open

While the Gate Is Open
Studio album by Gary Thomas
Released	1990
Recorded	May 1990
Studio	Hit Factory, New York City
Genre	Jazz
Length	59:06
Label	JMT JMT 834 439
Producer	Stefan Winter
Gary Thomas chronology
By Any Means Necessary (1989) While the Gate Is Open (1990) The Kold Kage (1991)

While the Gate Is Open is the fourth album by saxophonist Gary Thomas which was recorded in 1990 and released on the JMT label. ^{[1] [2]} It features Thomas' interpretations of eight jazz standards.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
The Guardian	[4]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	[5]

The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow states, "Thomas gives the eight tunes fresh treatments and as usual avoids all clichés (and the logic of bop) in his explorative improvisations." ^[3] The Guardian's John Fordham noted "This one features the hard-nosed Miles Davis saxophonist Gary Thomas with a fiercely collaborative band of experts... There's a lot of full-on tenor sax blasting over ferocious percussion barrages... The saxophonist's tendency to spit out phrases rather than massage them into life gives his work a rather impassive quality that mellowed later". ^[4]

Track listing

1. "Strode Rode" (Sonny Rollins) - 8:06
2. "Star Eyes" (Gene de Paul, Don Raye) - 7:27
3. "You Stepped Out of a Dream" (Nacio Herb Brown, Gus Kahn) - 7:58
4. "The Song Is You" (Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern) - 7:31
5. "Invitation" (Bronisław Kaper, Paul Francis Webster) - 10:00
6. "Chelsea Bridge" (Billy Strayhorn) - 5:38
7. "On the Trail" (Ferde Grofé) - 6:47
8. "Epistrophy" (Thelonious Monk, Kenny Clarke) - 5:39

Personnel

• Gary Thomas - tenor saxophone, flute
• Kevin Eubanks - electric guitar (tracks 1, 5, 6 & 8)
• Renee Rosnes - synthesizer, piano (tracks 2, 3 & 8)
• Anthony Cox (tracks 4, 5, 7 & 8), Dave Holland (tracks 1-3 & 6) - bass
• Dennis Chambers - drums (tracks 1–5, 7 & 8)

References

1. Peabody Institute Staff Profile: Gary Thomas Archived November 29, 2014, at the Wayback Machine , accessed November 17, 2014
2. Shimada, T., JMT label discography, accessed November 14, 2014
3. Yanow, S., Allmusic Review accessed November 17, 2014
4. Fordham, J. The Guardian Review, October 31, 2003
5. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1396. ISBN   978-0-141-03401-0.