Azar Lawrence must have been weaned from the breast milk of Impulse!-era Coltrane, as his music has the same fiery intensity and passion that is associated with that classic quartet. But Lawrence doesn’t simply pay homage; his quintet of Nicholas Payton/tp, Benito Gonzalez/p, Essiet Okon Essiet/b and Jeff “Tain” Watts/dr add a focus and clarity while still keeping the 60s spirit on this concert recording from The Jazz Standard in 2011. Lawrence opens up pieces like “Gandhi” and “Spirit Nights” with blistering solos that take you on a 4 wheeling dune buggy journey before Payton and Gonzalez come in to gather up the pieces. The two horns lock together like soul mates on “Lost Tribes of Lemuria” and “One More Time” with some hot brass delivered by the welder Payton, and Gonzalez taps into his inner Tyner on “The Seeker” while Lawrence shoots for the moon on his soprano. A glorious title track almost brings the house down with just under 6 minutes of a yearning rubato that recalls sounds from field hollars to church testimonies. Lawrence had the feelin’ this night, and he passed it on to the congregation.
Sunnyside Records