| Takin' It 2 the Next Level | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | World Saxophone Quartet |
| Cover: | Takin' it 2 the Next Level.jpg |
| Released: | 1996 |
| Recorded: | June 10–12, 1996 |
| Genre: | Jazz |
| Length: | 66:46 |
| Label: | Justin Time |
| Producer: | World Saxophone Quartet |
| Prev Title: | Four Now |
| Prev Year: | 1996 |
| Next Year: | 1998 |
Takin' It 2 the Next Level is an album by the jazz group the World Saxophone Quartet released by the Canadian Justin Time label. The album features performances by Hamiet Bluiett, John Purcell, Oliver Lake and David Murray, with a rhythm section of Don Blackman, Calvin X Jones and Ronnie Burrage.[1] [2]
The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 3 stars, stating, "Mostly sticking to group originals, the expanded band explores many moods on such numbers as "Wiring," "Rio," "The Desegregation of Our Children" and "When Thee Monarchs Come to Town."[3]
The authors of the Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings wrote: "The results are typically spirited and entirely within the WSQ tradition," but cautioned: "it's hard to avoid the feeling that the group is not continuing out of any artistic necessity."
A Billboard reviewer commented: "For the World Saxophone Quartet... the 'next level' expands its sound beyond accompanying percussion... Yet even these... additions couldn't change the wild, reedy nature of this ground-breaking ensemble."[4]