Wake Up Call

Album Review

Bob Gallo is hardly well known to jazz listeners, and the lack of liner notes keeps interested fans from learning more. But Gallo is an accomplished post-bop guitarist whose compositions hold one's interest, accompanied by a band that includes two veterans of the Mingus Big Band (trumpeter Alex Sipiagin, who has also recorded extensively as a leader for Criss Cross, along with bassist Boris Koslov), and drummer Gene Jackson (who has worked on dozens of recordings since 1988), whereas pianist Misha Tsyganov is a bit of a mystery man. Gallo's charts motivate his musicians into top-notch performances, though none of his songs are especially memorable. This is one of countless self-released CDs that has good music but may miss a lot of press coverage and radio airplay because of a curious lack of information in its packaging.