March 14, 2004 CD REVIEWS FRED HESS QUARTET "The Long and Short of It," Tapestry Records. Reviewed by staff writer Jay Harvey It isn't likely a lot of avant-garde jazz calls Denver home, but Fred Hess isn't fazed by provincial roots from getting edgy with his music. Not readily moved to honk and squawk, this authoritative tenor saxophonist instead favors abstract compositional frameworks, jumpy and unpredictable, as vehicles for trim, eccentric improvisations. He teams up here with ex- Hoosier Ron Miles, a trumpeter who conjures a little magic every time he opens his ample bag of tricks. Typical of his flair for providing just what's needed, Miles rounds his solo smartly in the opener, "Norman Says," leaving to Hess the more grandiloquent phrases. Completing the group are Ken Filiano, bass, and Matt Wilson, drums, who on this first track and elsewhere provide firm but spacious boundaries for the horns. You can go to "The Last Trance," which ends the set, to appreciate how far out the quartet can sound without abandoning a solid foundation. "Happened Yesterday" is an abstract blues that encourages Miles to reach out in witty, rhythmically intricate ways. Typical of the groundedness of this group is the manner in which the drum solo here takes its own sweet time to develop. There are a couple of sketchy, free pieces that don't say much, but in tunes like "Skippin' In," there's real effort put into making a whimsical trumpet-sax dialogue roll out pleasantly (until it gets frantic) against a bass-and-drums background, treating and challenging the ears at the same time.