There are some artists that you can tell by one note that they grew up in the church, and Kirk Edwards is one of those guys. He plays mostly tenor sax, but throws in a bit of soprano and clarinet as well, but each not has that “Sunday Morning” feeling of raising your hands during the service.
He’s got a warm tone on all three instruments, sticks mostly to middle register on tenor, is sweet as honey on clarinet and breezy on soprano. Putting together a first rate team of Donald Vega/p, Dave Baron/b, Peter Van Nostrand/dr and Keith Edwards/vib, Edwards preaches from the pulpit twelve originals in a wide range of colors and moods. There’s a literally nice Latin vibe to “Badalona” as the two Edwards’ sway and glide, while there’s a hip bluesy strut on the deeply grooved “Doubleheader”. Baron and Vega simmer with the leader on the indigo’d “Always On Time” and Van Nostrand snaps out a crisp path for Edwards’ sidewinding on “Spinning and Winning”, with the title piece a classic soul groover.
A honey’d soprano goes tropical with Vega on the keys for “Strictly Business” , with some relentless drumming on the V8 engine of “Vaya Con Dios”, while the whimsical licorice stick dances around Baron on the optimistic “Hope In Time Of Despair”. As you can see, even most of the tunes have a sermon in either the title or delivery, so pass the plate, sit down and take in the spirit!