Word: altoists
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...beyond--alto saxophonist David ("Fathead") Newman Jr., drummer Victor Lewis--and younger stars who actually seem to enjoy paying their respects to tradition--tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman, guitarist Mark Whitfield, bassist Christian McBride. On track after track, soloists of different generations find a common groove. On Froggy Bottom, altoist Newman, 66, and guitarist Whitfield, 29, turn out to speak the same blues language, lyrical as well as funky. One of the CD's two versions of Solitude is a lovely duet for basses in which McBride, 24, and the nonpareil Ron Carter, 59, weave deep, brooding lines together. (Carter also...
...handclapping, which set a tone of unrestrained fervor. The climax of this rough and rambling church shout is a flaming tenor solo by Ricky Ford, the last in a long line of great saxophonists who discovered themselves in Mingus's Jazz Workshops. In "Caroline 'Keki' Mingus," a ballad, altoist Lee Konitz lovingly introduces a theme which is then caressed by the ensemble with a grace that can only recall Mingus's one-time collaborator, Duke Ellington...
...after suffering a paralyzing stroke on his way to a gig; in Gary, Ind. Son of a Florida musician who weaned him on jazz, Adderley arrived in New York in 1955 with a quintet that included his brother Nat on the cornet. First billed as the heir apparent to Altoist Charlie ("Bird") Parker, Adderley became more eclectic as he forged his own musical identity with Miles Davis' group from 1957-59 and later with his own revived quintet. His playful bantering with audiences and brilliant improvisations on such numbers as This Here and Mercy, mercy, mercy made Adderley...
JACKIE McLEAN: NEW AND OLD GOSPEL (Blue Note). That hardy musical ghost, gospel, is summoned once again for this session. Its vibrations materialize most happily in a church-spirited composition by Ornette Coleman, who simply plays trumpet on this album. In Altoist McLean's four-part piece Lifeline, though, these vibrations become only the merest echo, as the group slides into the "new gospel" of freedom. Here McLean's quintet (Lamont Johnson on piano; Scott Holt, bass; Billy Higgins, drums) wheels uninhibitedly through the cycle of human experiences, expressing exultation with rollicking riffs, wonder with gentle breathings, anxiety...
...Saltonstall quintet, playing an agreeable, recognizable brand of jazz, contributed the slickest set of the evening. It's easy to see why Sadao Watanbe, the quintet's altoist, wins all the jazz polls in Japan; few foreigners can handle an alto sax with as much feeling and expertise as he can. He has great emotional range. On Davs of Wine and Roses, his tone was liquid, and smooth as marble; on Miles Davis' So What, he spat and screamed in a breathtaking solo. Watanbe (who is really good enough to play with anyone) had excellent support: the melodic, unpretentious piano...