Any album by one of the last living hard bop tenors is always a cause for celebration, especially when he still sounds authoritative. George Coleman teams up with an inspired Joe Farnsworth/dr, Peter Washington/b and Splie Wilner/p for a gig back in March, 2022 at Smalls Club, and the sound is musical comfort food.
As with all of the jazz sax greats, Coleman’s sound gets warmer and softer over time, and he blows smoke rings on a rich and mellow intro to “Four” before the team shifts gears into fourth gear and Farnsworth creates an avalanche of energy. He returns to his time with Miles Davis with a “My Funny Valentine” that allows for a rich intro by WIner and a solo by Washington. Farnsworth digs in with Coleman on a boogie-ieing “Blues For Smalls” while the sax giant goes bel canto on “At Last” and “When Sunny Gets Blue” . Most alluring is the Dairy Queen swirl that Coleman uses for a sweet intro to “Meditation”, making it all his own. Isn’t that what masters are supposed to do?