Seattle Times Thursday, October 2, 1997

   
 

THE SEATTLE TIMES
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT                           

"Visiting Dignitaries"
Milo Petersen & the Jazz Disciples (Passage)

What a pleasure to discover Milo Petersen, Seattle's drummer-turned-guitarist-turned-drummer, with a quintet of local musicians whose straight-ahead, late- '60s, post-bop blowing rates right up there with albums hyped by the majors.

With Seattle's two best bop-horn players up front - Jay Thomas (trumpet) and Rick Mandyck (tenor saxophone) - a rhythm section of Petersen, Marc Seales (piano) and Phil Sparks (bass), plus a slickly rehearsed, smartly arranged roster of all-original tunes, this is easily the best local album of the year.

"Certain Thoughts," with a creepy, after-hours thriller mood, sports a near-perfect solo by Seales, with subtle answers on the sticks from Petersen.  "Blue Steele," written for bassist/tenor sax man Gary Steele hits a bristling, Blue Note bop stride, and "Tony." for Tony Williams literally explodes.

Next time you're tempted at the record store by the latest "young lion," try these Northwest mountain cats. They purr.