''That's Nice'' is an album by the

Barry Altschul Barry Altschul (born January 6, 1943, in New York City) is a free jazz and hard bop drummer who first came to notice in the late 1960s for performing with pianists Paul Bley and Chick Corea. Biography Altschul is of Russian Jewish heritage, ...

Quartet / Quintet, led by drummer Altschul, and featuring saxophonist

Sean Bergin Sean Bergin (29 June 1948 – 1 September 2012) was an avant-garde jazz saxophonist and flautist from South Africa. Bergin was born in Durban on 29 June 1948. He was a saxophonist, flautist, composer, educator and bandleader. In his youth Bergi ...

, trombonist

Glenn Ferris Glenn Arthur Ferris (born June 27, 1950) is an American jazz trombonist who has also worked in other fields. Outside of jazz he has played for Frank Zappa, Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, and Duran Duran. He studied classical music from 1958 to 196 ...

, double bassist

Andy McKee Andy McKee (born April 4, 1979, in Topeka, Kansas) is an American fingerstyle guitar player who has released six studio albums, three extended plays, and one live album to date. A number of YouTube videos featuring McKee's highly-technical gui ...

, and, on two tracks, pianist Mike Melillo. It was recorded on November 25–26, 1985, at Barigozzi Studio in Milan, Italy, and was released on vinyl in 1986 by

Soul Note Black Saint and Soul Note are two affiliated Italian independent record labels. Since their conception in the 1970s, they have released albums from a variety of influential jazz musicians, particularly in the genre of free jazz. History Black S ...

Reception

In a review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author. Life and career Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Beginning in 1974, Yanow was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles and was the jazz e ...

noted that Altschul "gets to show off his versatility and talents" on the album, and wrote: "In general, the music has many free moments, yet is not afraid to swing or to include melodies. A stimulating set." The authors of ''

The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled b ...

'' described the album as "not a memorable set," and commented: "The quartet tracks with just horns are more arrestingly original than the two with pianist Melillo, who shifts the direction back towards the mainstream. Bergin has some incendiary moments and Ferris and McKee bring in some interesting compositional material." A writer for '' Coda'' stated that the album "utilizes some of the innovations of the past to create new music," and praised the contributions of trombonist Ferris, noting that he "has finally found the perfect platform for his talents and hopefully will be with Altschul for a long time." He remarked: "I eagerly look forward to the Barry Altschul Quartet's next album. There is great potential in this unit." Steve Holtje of '' MusicHound Jazz'' wrote: "The problem with ''That's Nice''... is summed up by its bland title, which matches the bland music. Perhaps it was important to Altschul to demonstrate his mainstream abilities with a group of non-stars... but the enervated results sound shallow."

Track listing

# "Ahfra Love" (Glenn Ferris) – 7:19 # "Blues Interrogation" (Andy McKee) – 7:20 # "Satarumbarengue" (Barry Altschul) – 7:43 # "That's Nice" (Barry Altschul) – 9:47 # "For 'Papa' Jo, 'Klook' And 'Philly' Too" (Barry Altschul) – 12:11

Personnel

– drums *

– alto saxophone, tenor xaxophone *

– trombone * Mike Melillo – piano (tracks 3 and 4) *

– double bass

References

{{Reflist 1986 albums Barry Altschul albums Black Saint/Soul Note albums