THE NGUYÊN LÊ QUARTET: WALKING ON THE TIGER'S TAIL

A strong jazz-fusion outing from the French-Vietnamese guitar master. Sacrificing a bassist, the disk has a lighter feel than might be expected, yet the tunes can reach a ferocious intensity when required. The opening track is a case in point, with Le's guitar solo blistering in the way it slowly builds up to a blissful climax. Paul McCandless handles a range of woodwind instruments and pianist Art Lande shows his dextrous abilities, covering a wide sonic range. Jamey Haddad plays intermittently on both standard kit and percussion. The compositions are consistently strong and the players are at the top of their games. Fans of Le who want to hear him in a relatively more standard jazz outfit would be delighted with this disk: