Stephen Riley & J.D. Allen

[Bol]

I've picked up, and am now enjoying a lot, a couple of sax-bass.drums trio abums: Stephen Riley's "Inside Out" and J.D. Allen's "Shine". I am a little perplexed. Why do I find these players more listenable than countless other tenor players out there? I can tell that people like Joshua Redman, Mark Turner, and many others are just as accomplished and technically proficient as these two, but the former don't do anything for me. Whereas Riley and Allen are really enjoyable to listen to. I wonder why.