Charlie Kohlhase Quintet

Charlie Kohlhase Quintet: Play Free or Die

by Dan McClenaghan
December 9, 2003

Saxophonist Charlie Kohlhase is perhaps best known for holding down the baritone sax chair in the Boston area's under-appreciated ten man Either/Orchestra. Working now with a pianoless quintet, he's hooked up with Boxholder Records for a live double CD, Play Free or Die. A live one indeed. It's an energized set, something akin to an Ornette Coleman/Don Cherry/Dewey Redman sound, and if you approach live recordings with some trepidation – due to historically poor sound quality, absymal mixes, and irritatingly ...