***1/2 Warne Marsh/Sal Mosca Quartet

WARNE MARSH/SAL MOSCA QUARTET, VOLUMES 1 AND 2

(Zinnia)

For many, tenor-saxophonist Warne Marsh is an acquired taste, but these two CDs, sold separately, are a good place to start. Throughout his long but erratic career, Marsh remained pianist Lennie Tristano's most orthodox follower. He never paid much attention to his sound, though its light, fine-grained texture had an icy sting like powdered snow, and his hollow timbre with its slight vibrato was peculiarly affecting on ballads. Instead, Marsh turned all his attention to harmony and melody; he was one of the most sophisticated and unpredictable linear improvisers jazz ever produced. The sweep of his supple, willow branch of a solo on "Marionette" (Volume 2) and the jolt of the unexpected pauses within the easy glide of his outing on "Digi-Doll" (Volume 1) are only a couple examples of his mastery on these two albums.

The date's co-leader, pianist Sal Mosca, has plenty of tricks up his sleeve too. He pushes solos to their harmonic extremes, cuts his lines into little snippets, then knits them together into long spans of notes and offers supportive chords or countermelodies behind Marsh's solos. Recorded live at the Village Vanguard in 1981 on a portable cassette player by Mosca, the CDs have imperfect but entirely listenable balance and fidelity. (Order from Zinnia Records, 984 Stillwater Road, Stamford, Connecticut 06902.)

-- Ed Hazell