Tenor saxist Felipe Salles gives a tribute to Tyo Attallah Salah-El, the late saxist/composer who doubled as a prison activist. The story of the man who served a life sentence in a Pennsylvania prison before dying in 2018 is compelling in its own right, and the music serves as giving some insight into the man’s soul.
Respectfully arranged, the music by Salles with a team of Zaccai Curtis/p, Avery Sharpe/b and Jonathan Barber/dr is of Salah-El’s time and world, namely early to mid-period John Coltrane of the Atlantic period.
Salles’ tenor is warm searching and lyrical bluesy over Barber’s high hat on “12 in 5” and lyrical over the pulsating “I’m Reaching Out”. Having Sharpe, an alumnus of McCoy Tyner’s trio, as bassist was a stroke of brilliance, as he gives a rich extra texture, to his intro and spotlight on the dark “Live A Life Of Love” to his loping line under Salles on the hip “Toe Tappin’ Tastey”, adding Latin sensuality to “Steppin’ U” while Barber is as crisp as a Versace suit on “Blues TO Change Your Views”. An uplifting and thought provoking message of sounds and words.