Saxophonics
June 2007 By Chris Kelsey
Poetica
Anzic
On Poetica, multi-reedist Anat Cohen convenes a group of fine young New York jazz players that includes, among others, pianist Jason Lindner and bassist Omer Avital. Cohen herself concentrates solely on clarinet. The album’s jazz content is, however, overshadowed...
June 2007 By Chris Kelsey
Veneration: Live at Smoke
Savant
Wayne Escoffery is a thirtysomething Coltrane- and Brecker-derived tenor player possessed of heavy-duty chops and musicality, with a fondness for modern jazz as it existed around the time of his birth. Joined here by vibist Joe Locke, bassist Hans Glawischnig...
June 2007 By Chris Kelsey
Keep on Rollin': A Tribute to Sonny Rollins
Nagel-Heyer
A Sonny Rollins tribute if there ever was one, Keep On Rollin’ has a pairing of young (Jasper Blom) and younger (Denis Gäbel) tenor saxophonists playing tunes from two of the master’s most famous late-’50s albums: Freedom Suite and Way Out West. You’d be...
June 2007 By Chris Kelsey
Above the Clouds
Arbors Records
With names like Clark Terry, Sarah Vaughan, Illinois Jacquet and Dizzy Gillespie gilding his résumé, you’d expect alto saxophonist Dave Glasser to be a solid mainstreamer before hearing him play a note. No surprise. He is—a limpid-toned, lyrical player in...
June 2007 By Chris Kelsey
As If It Were the Seasons
Delmark Records
This album is a remastered reissue of an historic 1968 recording by multi-instrumentalist Jarman’s then-current band with bassist Charles Clark, drummer Thurman Barker and guest vocalist Sherri Scott. The quartet is joined on the album’s second half by colleagues...
June 2007 By Chris Kelsey
Steps of Faith
SteepleChase
Tenor saxophonist Greg Tardy’s styles of composing and improvising are often harmonically cryptic in the manner of Wayne Shorter, yet not distractingly derivative—Shorter’s templates allow for a great deal of latitude, and Tardy takes advantage. His tenor...
June 2007 By Chris Kelsey
4 Brothers 7
Jazzed
Longtime Woody Herman Orchestra tenor and soprano saxophonist Frank Tiberi is joined by a rhythm section and three other saxophonists who, at one time or another, were also associated with the Herman band: tenorists Larry McKenna and John Nugent and baritone...
September 2006 By David Franklin
Mugshots
Mwai/Tedd Baker
As the lead tenor saxophonist with the U.S. Air Force’s Airmen of Note, Tedd Baker could be expected to be exceptional, and he is. His big muscular tone and perpetually moving lines produce hard-bop improvisations that grab the listener’s interest and generate...
September 2006 By David Franklin
Tenor of the Times
Savant
Folks who know of Jerry Bergonzi only as the successor to Paul Desmond in the Dave Brubeck Quartet could be misled by that credential. In contrast to the light and lyrical altoist, Bergonzi is a fiery tenor player out of the John Coltrane school. And like...
September 2006 By David Franklin
Just Noodlin'
Paul Carr
Tenorist/sopranoist Paul Carr has been a fixture on the Washington, D.C., area jazz scene for many years. The self-produced Just Noodlin’ is his second album as a leader and his first since 1993. Carr’s frontline companions for the occasion are the fine...
