For those unaware, saxophonist, composer and educator Bennett Wood has just released is brand new recording, Space in Time. Mostly done as a Quartet, we find that two out of eight compositions expands to a Quintet, the other instrument being the trombone, which decidedly adds a whole host of new shapes arrangements to the musical proceedings.

“Space in Time is my debut album as a leader,”, Bennett himself reveals. “The title track draws inspiration from the books Only the Ball Was White by Robert Peterson and The Baseball 100 by Joe Posnanski. Both works highlight the incredible athletic feats and adversity faced by black baseball players in the professional negro leagues.”

“As a lifelong baseball junkie, reading about Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston, Satchel Paige, and other greats was impactful. They were all-time greats whose achievements were not celebrated and recognized to the same degree as their white counterparts during their lifetimes.”

The rhythm section features pianist Andrew Ouellette, bassist Bob DeBoo, and drummer Joseph Winstein-Hibbs.

1. Catamaran
2. Fourth Wall
3. Space in Time
4. Obfuscation
5. Chilé Y Limón
6. Left Alone
7. Gordian Knot
8. For All We Know

The new album opens on the opulently swinging Catamaran and then the Grammy-nominated trombonist and composer Alan Ferber comes to the fore on the Latin-tinged hipsway of Fourth Wall, before we are brought forth the luxuriant title track Space in Time and the jaunty sculpted opulence of Obfuscation.

Along next are the propellantly fervent melodies that bring us Chilé Y Limón which is in turn backed seamlessly by the low slung, dulcet nature of the languishing Left Alone, the album rounding out on the playful, yet resoundingly flirtatious Gordian Knot, closing on a veritably cinematic scope found lushly within For All We Know.

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