THE ENGINES

One of the truly great Chicago quartets to appear in the last decade, The Engines comprises more than the sum of its parts. True to their name, they harness all those parts into a sleek dynamo of energetic flow as they weave inside and out: free-form solos seamlessly emerge from structured material while, on the other hand, mainstream riffs pop up when you least expect them. Dave Rempis has established his bona fides as one of the most important latter-day Chicago saxophonists: in a slew of local bands he emerges as a congenial firebrand, tempering his wildest forays with easy humor and a rather surprising gentility. Resplendent on alto, authoritative on tenor, he swings hard and traverses a huge emotional range, alternating boppish melody lines and multiphonic screeches (often within a single solo). On trombone, Jeb Bishop – who now stands among the most adept new-music trombonists worldwide – matches Rempis read more...