Paul Ahlstrand

PAUL AHLSTRAND
Gibraltar Records
The Sunday Hang
8 songs 

The Paul Ahlstrand Quartet takes over cozy and friendly Toad (Porter Square) on most Sunday nights during the winters. Along with the flat-topped, Chuck Taylor-wearing Ahlstrand is drummer Dave Mattacks (Fairport Convention, Paul McCartney, Elton John), bassist Jesse Williams (Duke Robillard), and pianist Ryan Claunch (Hal Sherfey Band, ex-Groovasaurus). Now the sensual soul of those Sunday nights has been parlayed into a great new CD, aptly titled The Sunday Hang. Appropriately enough, these eight tracks are the perfect thing for those golden lazy Sundays when the sun is shining just right, a pot of soup is simmering on the stove, the cat is curled into the crook of your arm and your crossword puzzle is almost done. Ahlstrand, whose sax personalities range from wildly raucous to magically subdued, breathes killer tones that enchant you from the first jaunty bars of “Fat Ted.” Six of the eight tracks are originals, with smart interpretations of “The Night We Called It A Day” and “Laughing on the Inside.” This brilliant quartet knows all of the inside moves that make for an effortlessly smooth CD that can be filed next to Grover Washington Jr., Brubeck and Miles. The Sunday Hang also reintroduces Ahlstrand (ubiquitous sideman to The Rudds, Family Jewels, Ronnie Earl, Gato Malo, Susan Tedeschi, etc etc etc) as a stellar band leader, composer and producer. Well done. (Lexi Kahn) - THE NOISE