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Of the many excellent and diverse projects Joe Lovano has produced and won critical acclaim for, this ranks with his very best, as strong an album as he has ever produced, with musicianship at an extremely high level, and well-conceived compositions that continue to identify him a true original.
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Beyond merely blowing with avant-tinged, Coltrane-inspired tenor gusto, Lovano employs multiple strategies on several reeds, setting up melodic motifs, rhythmic start-and-stop phrases and playful dance-like romps.
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With Us Five, Lovano has found a flexible and exciting working band, a group that can play down the center or off on the side, that can swing joyously or reach for the heights of abstraction.
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Lovano pulls no punches here, but his lyrical instincts are also strong; Folk Art remains as accessible as its title implies it ought to be.
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It’s a bit out of focus, perhaps intentionally. Made with his new band, Us Five, it’s sketchy, groovy and a little burdensome.
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Under The RadarThe title number is exemplary epic...Others like 'Drum Song' and 'Dibango' unravel too loose and spill all over an otherwise immaculate canvas. [Spring 2009, p.78]