Andres Boiarsky - Into the Light (1997)

A forceful improviser with a big tone, tenor saxophonist Andres Boiarsky may not be famous, but he is a fine hard bop player. Although Boiarsky was born and raised in Argentina and uses some top Latin jazz players on this set, the music is strictly hard bop. For this project, he is heard in a quartet with pianist George Cables, bassist David Finck, and drummer Ignacio Berroa, with guest appearances from percussionist Gabriel Machado, trumpeter Claudio Roditi, and altoist Paquito D'Rivera. Roditi takes solo honors during his three appearances, but Boiarsky (who contributed six of the eight songs) holds his own with his better-known sidemen and shows that, with some luck, he could be a force to be reckoned with.

Review by Scott Yanow