Talk about talent

If you’re afraid of jazz, let Tony Baglino take you there. A master of both visual arts and the jazz saxophone, Tony does not spend his life trying to impress his peers. His paintings and his music are fresh and new yet accessible to anybody willing to open up just a little. His newest album, “The New Solomon Project,” is his second recording effort, and shows the natural progression of a creative jazz musician as he moves forward within his own creative sphere. But unlike many experimental musicians, he invites you in with him, instead of coldly daring you to decode his musical puzzles. You can tell that he is creating music that pleases his senses. Newness for newness’ sake is not his game. The result ? You hear melodic riffs you can sink your teeth into, rhythms you can understand, and structure that does not stretch you so thin that it almost disappears. Most of all, you hear music that does not shout at you, but speaks to you, and it speaks with a very pleasing voice.

When you buy “The New Solomon Project,” I suggest that you take a seat, listen to it, and expect to be pleased. If you are already a jazz fan, you’ll be thrilled by his confidence; his willingness to proclaim his identity. There is unity without sameness, and variety without loss of direction. And there is sincerity. If you are new to the genre, you may simply say, “I like this,” and surprise yourself to discover that your tastes are not as locked in as you thought they were. Once you’ve heard it, put it away until you have a project to do, like cooking up a fine meal, or painting the bedroom. Now slip “The Solomon Project” into your CD player and you might discover that you have a new friend, a small body of music to live with and delight in, again and again.

There’s a lot of Latin rhythm in this CD, but it’ll come across as simply good rhythm. Baglino’s saxophone is clean and sure, free from the self-conscious distortions some musicians resort to when they’re fresh out of musical ideas. The synthetic sounds in this album are not alien noise, they’re there because they add taste and texture. Suddenly you understand: sounds are not validated by the historical fact that they’ve been around since Handel, they are validated by the effect they have on the music they are playing

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If you listen to jazz because you thrive on the elitism of pointless innovation, you might want to pass on “The New Solomon Project.” But ifyou’re the kind of person who takes your music where you find it, you just might fall in love with Tony Baglino and “The New Solomon Project.”

Michael Kosser