This album is supposed to be a tribute by tenor/soprano saxist Tim Hegarty to the likes of John Coltrane and Dexter Gordon, but for my money, as soon as you hear this guy’s bluesy/gospel sound, you’re going to flash right away to The Sugar Man, Stanley Turrentine. Hegarty teams up with a stellar ensemble of Kenny Barron/p, Mark Sherman/vib, Carl Allen/dr and Rufus Reid/b for some jazz covers and an original, ending up with a wonderfully earthy and swinging session. His thick tone is as palpable as a tapenade along with Reid’s loping bass line on “A New Blue” and the tender “Pannonica,” while more angular and edgy pieces such as “Inner Urge” and “Gingerbread Boy” ooze with delight. Barron is in his element here, caressing the keys on a rich “Simone” and nocturnal “Low Profile.” Sherman’s vibes are bouncy on the dainty “New Picture” and agonize on the melancholy “Not to Worry” along with Hegarty’s sole sojourn on the soprano, but it’s the red clay richness of Hegarty’s sound, making you think he’s been weaned at a revival house in Georgia, that’s going to make you keep coming back to this disc. When’s he coming to LA?
Miles High Records
www.mileshighrecords.com