If you’re a fan of the tenor sax, here’s an album to digest. Scott Burns, John Wojciechowski (last time I’m writing that name!) and Geof Bradfield bring out their beefy saxes and create a mix of velvety harmonies and fiery solos backed by a team of Richard D. Johnson/p-key, Clark Sommers/b and Greg Artry/dr on a collection of post bop originals.
The only caveat I state on the review is that each gent plays the same type of tenor (P. Mauriaat), while two play the same brand of reeds. This doesn’t necessarily make for the exact same sound (there are variants in lungs, mouthpieces, etc), but the sounds are fairly similar, as are the post bop styles. The unison urgency of the horns on “Force Majeure” is quite exciting, and the brass is glorious around Johnson’s piano on “Some Other Sunday”. The three ooze out the intro to “Curioso” and bop hiply around Johnson’s Tyneresque piano on the modal “Valkyrie”. Sommers leads the way around the keyboards on the soulful “Corea” with each saxist getting a fair share of soloing for each song. There is no identity of any of the soloists, so unlike the Webster/Hawkins/Johnson classic summit of tenors, it’s hard to tell who is who without a program. Still, a worthwhile walk in the reeds.