Phil Mosberg

Phil Mosberg Quartet: The New Balance

by AAJ Staff
February 1, 2002

On The New Balance, Chicago guitarist Phil Mosberg leads his loose-knit group through a series of open-ended compositions. Despite the obvious virtuosity he displays when sailing into solo flight, the guitarist remains perfectly content to accompany the other players or join them for unison melodies. And saxophonist Jon Irabagon takes plenty of opportunities to travel “out," which tends to raise the energy level of the quartet's playing.

The tunes on this record (all by Mosberg) have a relatively simple logic ...