Pratt has a deep, rich tone that comes with a bevy of ideas, all of which come one after the other as he delves deeper into whatever piece he is playing. He blows hot and cool, simple and complex, and doesn't have a boring or superfluous moment anywhere on the disc, which (except for “Hegan” and a surprising rendition of “A Nightingale Sang In Berkley Square”) all comes from Pratt's pen. You can hear classic references - “When You Wish Upon Uranus” is an obvious takeoff on Jiminy Cricket's signature tune - but the overall musical tone comes from an original place.
The title track, which leads off the disc, is missing a punctuation mark. Instead of “Nick Like”, it should be “Nick-Like”, since the sound & spirit of Brignola leaps out of the speakers as Pratt blows the bari on the melody and first solo. Pratt also plays tenor sax on Nick Like, and plays it well, but his major instrumental successes are with the bari - on the title track, on the funky funfest “Slacker”, and the disc-closing Brignola composition, “The Last Of Moe Hegan”. The latter track, which flies like a Ferrari going downhill with no brakes, took me back to nights at the front of the stage at Justin's, staring up at Nick and wishing the crowd behind me would stop talking and let me listen.
Nobody does anything by themselves, and Pratt couldn't have a better running partner on Nick Like than Chuck D'Aloia. In addition to gigging with legends like Dave Leibman and Randy Brecker, D'Aloia played and recorded with Nick, and gives Pratt the luxury of using the same musical foil. D'Aloia keeps it classical on the title track, “Uranus”, and the swirling waltz “ESP”, but gets downright Scofield on us on “Slacker” and “Moe'n'Mo”.
Read the entire review at albanyjazz.com
J.Hunter - albanyjazz.com (Mar 22, 2006)