Arman Sangalang: Quartet
Calligram Records

While still in its early days, the career of Chicago tenor saxophonist Arman Sangalang would appear to be in the ascendant. Its incremental rise began when he received a Jazz Links fellowship from the Jazz Institute of Chicago that led to composition studies with bassist, composer, and bandleader Matt Ulery. The award also enabled him to refine his material as well as the playing of the quartet he'd assembled—himself, Ulery, guitarist Dave Miller, and drummer Devin Drobka—during performances at different Chicago venues. All of that helped ready the quartet for a set at the 2022 Chicago Jazz Festival that identified Sangalang as a genuine up-and-comer. The final piece in the puzzle was added when the four entered Miller's Whiskey Point Studio to lay down his debut album's ten tracks, all of them Sangalang originals but one, a cover of Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke's “Polka Dots and Moonbeams.”

Surrounding oneself with top-of-the-line talent is always a canny move, and Sangalang's done himself a world of good in the recruitment category. Ulery never strikes a wrong note, and every leader benefits from the bassist's unerring pulse. Miller's been an elevating presence on a number of recent albums, among them Dion's Quest by Greg Ward's Rogue Parade and Christian Dillingham's Cascades, and does the same here. Drobka's rapidly become one of the jazz scene's go-to drummers and gives excellent drive to the saxophonist's project. Having such experienced bandmates in his corner naturally makes Sangalang sound better. That Quartet appears on the nascent Calligram Records, founded mere months ago by Geof Bradfield and Chad McCullough, also deepens the Chicago connection.

Fittingly, it's Sangalang's dusky tenor that introduces “Prelude,” though only seconds pass before the others rally round to flesh out the contemplative terrain. Already the impression's created of experienced players wrapping themselves around the leader, doing everything to cast his playing in the best possible light. More representative of the album is the subsequent “Retrograde,” which navigates smoothly through the intricate pathways of Sangalang's composition. As he delivers an adventurous solo, his bandmates respond elastically to the shifts in direction and temperature. Drobka and Ulery's inventive playing helps push the leader and thereafter Miller during a statement that's by turns funky and soulful. The guitarist's in particularly fine form on the album, shadowing the leader effectively at one moment and unleashing a splintering run at another.

To his credit, Sangalang isn't afraid to balance uptempo material with ballad-styled expressions, the aptly named “Contemplation” an obvious case in point. The leader distinguishes himself during his solo here as much as he does on a fiery number such as “Split Levels.” In the ballad, for example, he plays with a maturity and authority one would associate with a more seasoned player than someone starting out. The unit he's assembled inhabits that sweet spot of sounding tight and loose at the same time, and Ulery, Miller, and Drobka also carefully attune their playing to ensure they support but don't overpower the saxophonist.

The serpentine melodic trajectory followed by the quartet in “Odyssey” suggests Ulery's influence in the writing department, and while there's only four instruments in play the musicians imbue the material with a wealth of texture (during the spirited “The Game,” for instance, and its furious trade-offs between Miller and the leader). With “Rollins,” Sangalang pays heartfelt tribute to the legend Sonny with an irresistibly boppish statement.

October 2023