Here are three representatives of the tenor sax that is approached in a modern way. Take your pick!
JD Allen has released seven previous discs as a leader, and this one sounds like it’s most personal. He’s got a tone and approach that sounds similar to what you’d expect if you took all of John Coltrane’s gentler pieces from his Impulse! years and put them all together on a single disc. His sound and approach has that yearning and restless feel, and together with Eldar Djangirov/p, Dezron Douglas/b and Jonathan Barber/dr they deliver a collection of intriguing “Spirituals.” The tunes are in line with the current phrase that people say, “I’m not religious; I’m spiritual.” These songs aren’t “Joshua Fit The Battle of Jericho” but more abstract meditations such as “Mass” “Chatgall” or the title track. “Most satisfying is the clearly ruminating ”Selah” that sounds most like Kind David composing a Psalm.
Eric Alexander has the most muscular tone of the three horn players, and he uses it to good advantage on this collection of quiet and gentle pieces. Long term teammate Harold Mabern serves up a great duet with the leader on “Dinner for One Please, James” while the rest of the team (Joh Webber/b and J oe Farnsworth/dr) create wondrous framework for pieces such as the undulating “I’m Glad There Is You.” Alexander knows how to make a note sound convincing, breathing fresh air into “Central Park West” and “The September of My Years.” Tenors were made for ballads, and Alexander was made for both.
Jerry Bergonzi continues a long jazz tradition by taking the chord progressions of familiar tunes and creating a new melody out of them. Together with the team of Phil Grenadier/tp, Will Slater/b, Karen Kocharyan/dr Bergonzi brings h is tenor (and piano) to deliver clever readings of jazz standards. He bops with clarity, and most intriguing, changes the tempo on some tunes to keep you alert. A fairly rapid “Deek” from “How Deep is the Ocean” and “Of a Feather” from “Bye Bye Blackbird” make the new melody seem absolutely original. A snappy “First Lady” (“Lady Bird”) and stretched out “114 W. 28th Street’ (“Star Eyes”) sound like they were conceived at the original Birdland but modernized in a time warp. Bergonzi’s tone is lithe and swift like a double play combo, able to go around the horn with ease. Nice session!
Savant Records
High Note Records