Is the World on Fire? Saxophonist Isaiah Collier and The Chosen Few Think So

Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few: The World Is On Fire Division 81 Records

The Chicago based saxophonist Isaiah Collier has made a powerful new album that highlights some of the tumultuous racial, social and political issues that this country has faced in the past decade. The album is titled The World is On Fire and was released in October of 2024. Events like the vigilante-like killing of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, the shooting of sixteen-year-old Ralph Yal in Missouri, the traumatizing killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and the upsetting events at the Capitol on January 6th were not just fodder for Collier and his Chosen Few group to create music. These guys memorialized these events by melding news clips, alarming street sounds and vivid commentaries with their own piercing, emotionally charged and plaintively expressed musical expressions. The music is both potent, brashly provocative and yet offers a feeling of hopefulness that cannot be denied. 

Collier’s tenor, alto and soprano work is attention grabbing. As the free jazz bassist William Parker said of saxophonist’s playing with own group, Collier’s playing is inspiring. There is certainly some lineage that can be clearly traced to some of the spiritual work of both John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders, but this comparison is only a starting point for this expressive musician. His core group is comprised of the pianist Julian Davis Reid, the drummer Michael Skekwoaga Ode and the bassist Jeremiah Hunter. The group is supplemented by guest artist Corey Wilkes on trumpet, Ed Wilkerson Jr on alto clarinet, Kenthany Redmond on flute, Mayshell Morris on flute, Cassie Watson Francilla on harp, Oluga Negre on cello and Keila Adira, Manasseh Croft, Jessica Walton and Meghan McNeal on vocals.

Isaiah Collier and The Chosen Few (photo credit unknown)

The opener is a moving modal driven smoker titled “The Time Is Now”, a declaratory musical statement for change that Collier, who wrote the ten compositions on the album, believes needs to not only be stated but realized. “Trials and Tribulations” uses Mississippi Representative Bennie Thompson’s statements of chastising Donald Trump for his implicit support of the unlawful storming of the Capitol on January 6^th and the subsequent chaos that it caused as the fuel for this musical statement. Collier’s saxophone wails with urgency and Reid’s piano flows with consistency as Ode’s drums lends powerful propulsion.

Kenthany Redmond’s pastoral flute work opens “Amerikka The Ugly” which is accentuated by Reid’s sensitive piano and Hunter’s playful arco bass work are all highlights. Collier adds his own sinewy soprano work at the halfway point along with some tasty bass pizzicato by Hunter. Despite the title of this song, the music has a spritely, uplifting feel to it that is hard to deny. Despite the darkness of the idea of ugliness Collier seems to always find the bright light that is still present.

The composition "Ahmaud Arbery" finds the core group expertly amalgamate their own musical strengths in a cohesive powerful statement that embodies emotions as varied as callousness, outrage, sadness, anger, sorrow and eventually hopefulness.

The album has six other equally compelling musical and social messages that bring energy and light to the social awareness stage. The closing  song "We Don't Even Know Where We're Heading" ends this awake call album with a joyous eruption of hopefulness. 

Jazz music has always had its town criers, those who actively rang the bell when portents of danger to society and justice needed to be warned against. Complacency is never enough. Before it was Charles Mingus, Gil-Scott Heron, Max Roach, Gary Bartz and others who at times used their music to make a statement against injustice, unfairness and prejudice. Today Isiah Collier and his Chosen Few are a new, young and important voice that seem to be taking over this mantle and thankfully their music is being embraced.

"I Will Never Stop Loving You" a treasure of a piano solo album by Kirk Lightsey

Kirk Lightsey: I Will Never Stop Loving You JJR-001

The pianist Kirk Lightsey is perhaps a name that you may not be familiar with, but that is certainly not for lack of his possessing immense talent and sublime taste. The now eighty-four-year-old pianist and one-time flutist has certainly flown under many people’s radar, despite being a key participant and contributor to many of the music’s notable performers of the past fifty years. Lightsey’s sensitive imprimatur can be heard as a sought-after sideman for an impressive array of important performers in this music’s history. Lightsey’s piano work has been present on work with Yusef Lateef, Betty Carter, Pharoah Sanders, Sonny Stitt, and Chet Baker. He toured four years with saxophone titan Dexter Gordon and has recorded with such diverse artists as Woody Shaw. Harold Land and Blue Mitchell, Clifford Jordon, Gregory Porter and even The Roots. Lightsey’s leader work as a pianist has always been noted for his ability as an astute interpreter of many of the music’s most creative compositions. Back in 1984, Lightsey and the other underappreciated pianist, Harold Danko, did a duo album titled Shorter by Two. They astutely recognized the compositional brilliance of Shorter long before it was fully appreciated and took two inspiring and unique interpretations of the music’s possibilities.

Lightsey has lived in France since 2000 and over his storied career released close to twenty albums as a leader and numerous albums as a sideman. Lightsey’s latest release is a gorgeous solo album titled I Will Never Stop Loving You on JOJO records. The title song has become a signature song for the pianist. The music was written Nicholas Brodszky in 1955 with lyrics by Sammy Cahn for the movie Love Me or Leave Me. The song has been sung by Doris Day, Dinah Washington, Andy Williams, Nancy Williams, and even British pop singer Dusty Springfield and played by Ahmad Jamal. Lightsey has an innate ability to extract the beauty and sensitivity from this song and it is just an unhurried approach that is so rare to hear in today’s frenetic times. As his sparse liner notes Lightsey says :

“Patience. A lesson in patience. My whole life seems to be about the lesson of patience. Patience with myself.”

There is something undisputedly true about reaching that kind of understanding that is refreshing and revealing of this pianist at this point in his career. 

Lightsey mines compositional gems here, like Wayne Shorter’s “Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum” which he gives a jaunty, almost stride-like approach. The pianist finds Tony Williams less explosive side by treating the drummer’s “Pee Wee” with sensitivity and respect. The touch, the pensiveness, and the emotive approach as he expands on the theme are just wonderful.

Shorter is again celebrated by Lightsey with another two of his compositions “Infant Eyes,” as good as a composition as had been created in the past fifty years, and the gem “Wild Flower”. Lightsey’s pianist approach to “Infant Eyes” is expansive and moving and filled with a bouquet of harmonic possibilities.

The composer/saxophonist Phil Woods once said “Goodbye Mr. Evans” was his best composition ever and acknowledged that Lightsey had probably made one of the most memorable renditions of this dedication to the pianist Bill Evans. There is no doubt that Lightsey revels in this song and evokes some of Evan’s spirit in playing this fine composition.

Lightsey resurrects John Coltrane’s epic “Giant Steps” here with his own unique take on this relentlessly climbing composition that always seems to be reaching for but never quite arriving at its destination. The pianist finds slightly angular approaches to this memorable theme, and he ends with his own creative take at the coda.

Shorter’s “Wild Flower” ends this marvelous album. The pianists accompanying left-hand sets the rhythmic pulse as his right hand explores, with a patience and richness that allows the music to blossom like the synanthesis of the wildflower it was named for. 

Kirk Lightsey has played and recorded many of these songs over his career and yet there are always new ideas to be mined by a seasoned artist. Like a traveler who frequents a familiar road, we can always find new things to explore, new ways to find alternate paths in the music. This album offers a most recommended way to spend just under thirty-five minutes of basking in this man's artistry.

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Mike DiRubbo Quartet live at Smalls; Patience pays

Mike DiRubbo Quartet Live at Smalls  Sl-0058

The alto saxophonist Mike DiRubbo has been on the verge of a breakout for some time.  The now forty-eight-year-old alto saxophonist has a clean, biting sound. One is reminded of one of his mentors, the late Jackie McLean. DiRubbo began his musical studies on clarinet and eventually moved to his instrument of choice, the alto, when he was twelve.  A life changing experience with the Mitchell-Ruff group while he was still in high school convinced him that music was his life’s calling. After high school, DiRubbo studied at McLean’s Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford in his home state of Connecticut. McLean saw something in the young man’s playing that reminded him of himself. The master’s intuition has proven to be prophetic.  DiRubbo graduated from Hartt in 1992 and after working for a couple of years with local musicians in Connecticut, he eventually made his way to the Mecca of jazz, New York City, in 1997.

DiRubbo has sharpened his skills on the whetstone of gigging with some of New York’s premier jazz players like Al Foster, Jimmy Cobb, Harold Mabern, Eddie Henderson, John Hicks, Peter Washington and Carl Allen to name a few. His hard work has paid off giving him a distinctive hard-edged sound that both honors the tradition and launches the music into the era of modernity.  The critics have noticed. DiRubbo has been a nominee for Downbeat’s Rising Star on Alto Saxophone for the last six years running.

He has worked extensively as a sideman on albums led by modern artists like  trombonist Steve Davis, keyboardist Brian Charette, trumpeter Jim Rotondi and bassist Mario Pavone. The altoist has released several albums as a leader and started his own record label, Ksanti in 2011. Ksanti means “patience” in Sanskrit and with such an impressive resume and his latest release, Mike DiRubbo Quartet Live at Smalls, that patience may finally be rewarded with the accompanying recognition that he so richly deserves.

As the title implies this is a “live’ recording, capturing the moment of spontaneity and excitement that happens when a group is in sync and spurred on by an appreciative audience. This release is very current having been recorded at Smalls Jazz Club in Greenwich Village in December of 2017. The group is stellar. Pianist Brian Charette sheds his organ and synthesizers for a night of acoustic piano and the results are impressive. The rhythm section of Ugonna Okegwo and Jonkuk Kim keep the energy high and pulsing.  Smalls, ans an intimate, basement club that has a capacity of sixty, is the perfect venue to listen to and appreciate a group like this. You get a chance to get upfront and personal with the band. A chance to listen and watch undistracted as DiRubbo and his group explore the possibilities of the compositions that they play.

The music is straight-ahead post-Coltrane, hard-bop and it is delivered with a raw edged authenticity that captures your attention. All the songs are written by DiRubbo- the one exception is John Abercrombie’s beautiful ballad “As it Stands,” and to be fair ,“Pent-Up Steps” is a take on Coltrane’s “Giant Steps”

From the driving opening bars of “Hope” you get the sense that this is going to be a special set of music. There is a Coltrane intensity and DiRubbo’s horn, at times almost sounds like a tenor; sharp, sometimes ragged, ripping through the lines like a serrated knife through crusty bread.Okegwo’s pulsating bass lines lead the way.Charette’s piano comps are thoughtful and measured and he offers a shimmering solo of cascading notes. Drummer Kim is a bundle of cacophony that keeps the proceedings percolating just to the brink of a boil.

“Details” uses a repeating rhythmic motif over which DiRubbo’s alto blows, first stating the line and then exploring its modal possibilities. You can hear the strong influence of his mentor Jackie McLean here. His notes are articulated like short staccato stabs, often accentuated with snare drum jabs by drummer Kim. When the altoist goes off, his cutting sound connects longer runs of notes played with a force that implies urgency. Charette takes an inspired solo that features a flow of notes that pour from his keyboard like the water of rushing stream before setting up for a pensive bass solo by Okewgo. As the song closes DiRubbo reaches the higher register with intense wailing sounds that are reminiscent of some of Pharoah Sanders’ plaintive cries.

The cd continues with “A Blues.”  The song has a swinging feel and each musician takes a turn in the solo spotlight. Okewgo’s bass is strong and pulsing and Charette's musings hold your interest with an economy of notes and some nice tremolo effects. DiRubbo’s alto is sinewy, his facility always at the ready to produce a flurry of notes when the mood suits him, or he will dynamically leave some space when effective.

“Moving In” is a soulful, ruminative ballad that features some of DiRubbo’s most sensitive playing. The rhythm section holds down the waltz-like pace as the altoist is given a chance to wander around the melody expressing a variety of ideas that all have an emotional appeal. His horn pleading in its tone and phrasing. Okwego’s bass is robust, dancing around the rhythm in a free-spirited prance that is loose but never loses the tempo.

“Pent-up Steps” is a derivative of Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” and shows the group in top form. DiRubbo’s alto navigates the changes with a slipstream ease. Gushes of sound come pouring out of his horn in deluge of ideas, building in intensity, surging with screeching, high-register notes at the apex of his solo. The rhythm section keeps the pace and defines the changes.  Pianist Charette artfully offers a series of beautifully executed ascending and descending runs. Drummer Kim, given his chance to shine, produces a polyphony of beats accented by some shimmering cymbal work, before the group heads for the exit at the coda.

The late guitarist John Abercrombie had a way of composing endearing music that often had a touch of introspective melancholy to it.  It’s no wonder that the group rises to the occasion and delivers one of their most memorable performances on his composition “As it Stands.” DiRubbo’s alto is particularly moving, his tone and attack delivering the pensive, moody feel with great insight and authentic feeling. Charette’s poignant solo is a highlight and Okwego’s bass sings with its own sense of deeply felt emotion.

The final song of the cd is “Archangel.” DiRubbo uses the thumping beat of Okwego’s bass, the roiling drums of Kim and the deftly placed comp chords of Charette to go off in an intense, ‘sheets of sound’ deluge of notes on his horn.
As the record memorializes,this is a group that thrives in the intimate setting of a club like Smalls. The chemistry is potent and DiRubbo delivers a set of  powerful music that relishes intensity while still leaving room for the sensitivity that a good ballad requires.

The Pharoah Sanders Quartet taps into the Spiritual at the Rialto in Atlanta

William Henderson(p);  Pharoah Sanders (ts); Nat Reeves (b) and Jason Brown (drms) at the Rialto Center 

Last night at the Georgia State University Rialto Center for the Arts here in Atlanta, a nearly sold out crowd came to hear a jazz legend. The spiritual saxophonist Pharoah Sanders and his quartet entered the Rialto stage to a standing ovation from a respectful crowd.  The blue dashiki-clad Sanders, now seventy-seven, wore a simple turned-around cap and his signature chin strap beard now snowy white. His movement was a bit less spritely then in years past as he hobbled onto the stage.

Sanders is one of the fathers of the avant-garde and free jazz movements of the nineteen sixties. His name is in the pantheon of free and avant-garde players like trumpeter Don Cherry, saxophonists Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, John Tchicai and Archie Shepp and the pianist Cecil Taylor. But it was his association with futurist Sun Ra that brought him his moniker and the idea that he could freely express himself on his horn.  

Pharoah Sanders at sound check photo credit  James B. Ellison Jr.

Originally born Ferrell Sanders in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1940, it was Ra – himself born Herman Blount - who gave Sanders the new name Pharoah in the early sixties, when the young man was struggling to survive in New York City. His later association with the saxophonist John Coltrane would mark another turning point in Sanders’ career. The two can be heard on Coltrane’s Ascension, a pivotal album for the saxophone giant as well as eight other albums spanning the years 1965-1967. The relationship was symbiotic; Sanders long, emotional, overblown, often dissonant solos influencing Coltrane’s later playing and Coltrane’s spiritual quest influencing Sanders future musical direction.

In 1966 Sanders signed with the Impulse label and released his startling debut Tauhid. For me, Tauhid was a defining moment. More than any other music I had ever listened to, this album and Sanders’ playing could transport me into a state of transcendental bliss. It was a nuclear experience. I loved music but never thought it could transcend time and space. I thought it was my little secret but I soon found out that the music had the same effect on many others.

Sanders followed Tauhid with a series of spiritually uplifting albums and collaborations. His work on Alice Coltrane’s Journey in Satchidanada and his own albums Karma and Thembi all followed eastern dominated musical and spiritual themes. His discography lists over thirty albums as a leader and countless performances as a collaborator.

I was anxious to attend his performance at the Rialto, and see if this seventy-seven- year-old icon could still bring that energy and emotional involvement to the music as I remembered it. 

Sanders’ band included his pianist William Henderson who first recorded with Sanders in 1983 and Hart School of Music educator/bassist Nat Reeves who often works with alto saxophonist Kenny Garrett. The program originally called for the drummer Joe Farnsworth to be on the bandstand, but the drummer Jason Brown was brought in due to last-minute scheduling changes.

The set started off with bassist Reeves offering a bowed introduction to Coltrane’s “After the Rain,” from Coltrane’s Impressions album of 1966. Sanders’ evoking the meditative reflection with great tone and warmth. Drummer Brown using his soft mallets to make his cymbals shimmer.

The program went into a quicker paced Coltrane tune which I couldn’t identify but sounded like it was from the Giant Steps period. Here the band did the heavy lifting as they would do for most of the evening, as Sanders shuffled off stage after a brief but powerful solo. It was hard to tell if the septuagenarian was having difficulty standing as he moved very slowly on and off stage, his gait showing signs of a pronounced limp. His playing was brief, often only a few measures per song. Gone were the powerful overblows and the extended ventures into deep space, explorations that could last twenty minutes. Despite the brevity, when he took up his horn Sanders showed he still possessed that same command of tone and raw emotional vitality that earmarked his earlier work, even if it came with a more subdued physical power. Quality not quantity ruled the proceedings on this night.

His take on Coltrane’s “Naima” was a highlight, playing the emotional ballad with sublime sensitivity, occasionally adding some fluttering notes but with no dissonance. The saxophonist has shown a rare ability to channel something that goes beyond simple music and for a few moments he did so on "After the Rain" and “Naima.”

Pharoah Sanders photo by James B. Ellison Jr.

As the program progressed Sanders took a few opportunities to edge on drummer Jason Brown who seemed to be trying his best to hold his own in these unfamiliar waters.

On his own compositions, especially “The Creator has a Master Plan” and the encore “Ose Re Re” you could see the saxophonist became animated. He moved across the stage in a dance-like strut that belied his age. Sanders is one of those artist that feeds off his audience and he encouraged the crowd to chant along with him and make his “Creator has a Master Plan” into a communal experience. I found myself among those who willingly obliged.

Pianist Henderson chaired the group with a subdued refinement, playing some stirring passages that at times sounded very Tyner-esque. His ability to maintain lush fills or that drone effect that so often accompanied some of Sanders’ more spiritual music was impressive.  Reeves adapted his bass to the songs at hand using both pizzicato and arco techniques, keeping the sometimes-frantic beat pulsing or simply maintaining a sustained buzz. Brown did his best to maintain the swing, occasionally letting loose with a barrage of bombastic that seemed to appeal to the crowd.

At an after show gathering, I was able to get the taciturn Sanders to sign a copy of Tauhid that I had brought with me; my own personal highlight. Surrounded by his family this gentle, unassuming man proved a gracious artist who took the time to sign artifacts and take pictures with his adoring fans.

We are rarely given a chance to bear witness to a musician of the caliber and importance of Pharoah Sanders. He is one of those jazz masters that should be revered for his lasting contributions to the music and for his dedication to enriching our lives with his very spiritual offerings. The Georgia State University Rialto Center for the Arts its director Leslie Gordon and its jazz advisor Dr. Gordon Vernick should be applauded bringing Mr. Sanders to Atlanta. For anyone who has not yet seen him play live, what on earth are you waiting for?

Dave Liebman and Joe Lovano: "Compassion The Music of John Coltrane"

In June of 2017 saxophonist Dave Liebman, a member of the original group, Saxophone Summit, a group dedicated to the legacy of John Coltrane, was asked if he could organize that group or something like it to perform on the BBC’s Jazz on 3 radio program, for the 40^th anniversary of John Coltrane’s passing on July 17, 2007. The original Saxophone Summit from 1996 was made up of saxophonists Michael Brecker, Joe Lovano and Liebman, as well as the rhythm section of bassist Cecil McBee, pianist Phil Markowitz and drummer Billy Hart. With the passing of Michael Brecker in 2007, the group continued over the years in various iterations that included, at times, saxophonists Greg Osby and later Ravi Coltrane. With time being so tight, Liebman rallied the core of the group; himself, Lovano, Hart and Markowitz for the date. Ravi Coltrane and Cecil McBee, unfortunately, had prior commitments, and so journeyman bassist Ron McClure was enlisted for this recording.

Compassion: The Music of John Coltrane came to life. As Liebman writes in the thoroughly engaging liner notes, Coltrane’s legacy was vast, and spanned so many stylistic , that choosing a suitable repertoire to play would be a challenge unto itself.  With the anniversary looming, Lovano and Liebman decided that for this gig, they would perform music from all Coltrane’s periods. The result is an original interpretation of Coltrane’s music, as well as a wonderful homage to a master that these musicians all see as one of their most enduring influences.

The set list includes “Locomotion” from the 1958 classic Blue Train, a blues based song that is representative of Coltrane’s early Blue Note period. The dueling tenors of Liebman with his sharper, more piercing tone and then Lovano’s huskier horn, take turns carrying on this classic, as the throbbing bass of McClure, the dynamic piano of Markowitz and the splashing cymbals of Hart propel this classic.  

Coltrane’s more universal appeal was often found through his sensitive playing on ballads, and here Lovano chooses the pensive “Central Park West” as a vehicle of expression. His tenor tone is burnished and lustrous. Markowitz plays a resplendent intro to the diatonic “Dear Lord” that features Liebman on a beautifully realized soprano saxophone solo that hovers like an angle on a cloud.

The Spanish tinged “Ole” represents Coltrane’s excursion into the realm of modal, eastern-influenced music.  The sedately paced intro finds the woodwind players conversing, this time with Liebman on wooden recorder and Lovano on Scottish Flute, before switching to soprano saxophone and tenor saxophone respectively. The modal vamp allows the rhythm section to set the roiling groove. Markowitz inventive solo is a highlight, before Lovano enters with his own deep throated voice. Liebman then squeals and squeaks with a flurry on his soprano. As the song progresses, the two horns let loose with a series of high pitched screeches and wails- a precursor to the more avant-garde sounds to come in Coltrane’s music- before McClure takes a pulsing bass solo at the coda.

“Reverend King,” a song dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr. from Coltrane’s Cosmic Music album, was originally recorded in 1966 and released posthumously in 1968. This was a period when the saxophonist was experimenting with dialogue between himself and saxophonist Pharoah Sanders. Lovano and Liebman play on this dialogue with a more subdued alto clarinet and C flute respectively. Hart’s toms accentuating a rolling background with McClure’s Arco bass. The tinkling notes of Markowitz’s piano, Liebman’s fluttering flute, Lovano’s woody alto clarinet and McClure’s bowed bass all create the moody feel of this piece.

“Equinox” was a return to a minor blues format, this time during Coltrane’s Atlantic years, originally recorded in 1960. Lovano and Liebman choose to interpret this as if Coltrane played it in his later years. A looser, more open feeling that was not restricted so much by form or structure. To this end the drummer Billy Hart sets the tone with his distinctively free feel to his rhythmic timekeeping. Liebman’s soprano soars into atmospherics, Markowitz expands the musical palate with a stirring solo of invention and succinctness. Lovano’s tenor is at its most exploratory, a raspy excursion out to the borders of the tune’s boundaries.

The final song is “Compassion” and comes from Meditations, Coltrane’s follow up album to his groundbreaking A Love Supreme. By this point, in his ever-changing search for expression in his music, Coltrane had become his most free and most spiritual. On the original recording Coltrane used two drummers, Elvin Jones and Rashid Ali. Appropriately, master drummer Hart starts this piece off for the first four minutes introducing several different rhythmic variations by his deft use of sticks, toms and cymbals.  A pulsing bass line by McClure and some stabbing piano notes by Markowitz lead into the dual tenors stating their lines in unison. Liebman is first to solo, a piercing, cascade of notes that occasionally shriek into plaintive cries. Lovano enters with his aulochrome, a twinned soprano saxophone, with its duality of voice that reminds me of Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s ventures into the simultaneous use of multiple horns. Markowitz, McClure and Hart play an intuitive break that is rash, atonal, bombastic and percussive. The two horns re-enter this time with Liebman on soprano and Lovano back to tenor. This free, unstructured rant goes on for seventeen minutes and is , for me, the least enjoyable part of this album. As with some of Coltrane’s later unstructured, avant-garde work it is not for everyone, but true to the spirit of what the master was doing at this point in his career.

As with many of Resonance Records, and producer Zev Fledman’s recent releases, the packaging is rich, the liner notes informative and meaty, the sound quality is good and the music captures a group of master musicians paying homage to one of their greatest influences. For any Coltrane fan this one is a keeper.

An Interview with Singer José James as he embarks on his tour "Love in a Time of Madness"

Jose James

There is one thing you can count on when the vocalist José James puts out a new album, it will be unlike anything he has done before. The thirty-nine year old singer has been confounding his audience and critics alike with his insistence on not settling on his past musical laurels. He is first and foremost an artist, who primarily wants to push himself and his art into new and sometimes uncomfortable territory. For him these forays into the unknown are stretching exercises, yoga for his creative spirit. The Minneapolis born singer has always felt singing was his calling and he takes his mission very seriously.

Ever since attending the New School of Contemporary Music in NYC in 2008, James has been on a search to expand his musical horizons. He was mentored by the pianist Junior Mance and the drummer/bandleader Chico Hamilton. He claims his jazz influences as John Coltrane and Billie Holiday, but his lineage also includes the music of Marvin Gaye and A Tribe Called Quest, and you can hear the cadence of Gil Scott-Heron and the silky smoothness of Johnny Hartman in his luxurious baritone.

My first exposure to James was at the Carmoor Jazz Festival back in 2010. At that time I was so impressed that I wrote "He is a young artist that needs to be watched." In 2015 I caught James “live” when he came to the Variety theater in Atlanta in support of his Yesterday I Had the Blues, a tribute to Billie Holiday. His stage presence was noticeably more polished and his performance was inspired.

His debut album Dreamer was self-produced and introduced in 2008  to critical acclaim, with James ushering in a new era of jazz vocals that incorporated elements of hip hop into the repertoire. He released Blackmagic, a neo-soul classic that pushed further onto new ground. With little concern about alienating his core audience, James daringly released a sparse duet album of jazz standards with the British pianist Jef Neve, For All We Know. The album received international recognition garnering the Edison Award and L' Accademie du Jazz Grand Prix for best Vocal Jazz Album of 2010. 

In 2012 James was signed to the prestigious Blue Note record label where he released his single “Trouble” and the album No Beginning, No End in 2013 and While You Were Sleeping in 2014. In 2015, in honor of what would have been of Billie Holiday’s One Hundredth birthday, James released the impressive Yesterday I Had the Blues, where the singer skillfully interpreted songs of Lady Day in his own inimitable style. Critics hailed the album and it was named on many best of jazz for 2015 lists including my own.

James most recent album is titled Love in aTime of Madness and once again is a departure from the vocalist’s past outings, taking on a distinctive vibe that explores the soul, R and B, and funk of the late seventies, modernizing it with electronica techniques like trap beat. 

Notes on Jazz spoke to James about his new album and his upcoming tour via telephone on March 8, 2017.

NOJ: You are starting a tour that will kick off in Atlanta, this time at CenterStage, on March 16, 2017. This will be in support of your latest album Love in a Time of Madness. Let’s get started on how this album came about.

JJ: A lot of people will be surprised to know this, but the actual constructive beginning of this album and this process began with the Blue Note catalogue. I was going through a now defunct Spotify app that was amazing. It was all about Blue Note samples. It was this ingenious app that let you hear pretty much every Blue Note sample in the history of the label. It was incredible. I was going through it thinking about, what is some stuff I  haven’t really checked out. I came across all of this great material from the seventies with the Mizzell Brothers producing, Hubert Laws, Donald Byrd and I realized that I knew those albums through hip-hop samples, but I really didn’t actually know the albums. So I spent a lot of time listening to the albums themselves. That actually pointed me in the direction of the kind of funk jams, live your fantasy and all that kind of stuff that you hear on Life in the Time of Madness.

NOJ: You have a tour in support of this album and you starting off that tour right here in Atlanta at Centerstage. Why start in Atlanta?

JJ: Atlanta for me is easily one of the top three places to play in the world. If I had to pick one city in the U.S. to play in the year it would be Atlanta, just on a pure enjoyment level. I find it has the kind of intellectual sophistication and musical appreciation, like New York or LA, but it has that realness of like a Detroit or Chicago. People just really love music. It also has this real spiritual and African American perspective that really puts it in a special place for me all on its own. I love it, I know I have to start strong in Atlanta.

NOJ:  I myself am a transplant to Atlanta from the metro NY area and I was pleased to find a vibrant and strong jazz community that is talented and quite dedicated. Although audience participation in pure jazz is a little weak here.

JJ: I can see that.

NOJ :It is guys like you that I see as a bridge to a wider audience and that is an important aspect to your music and your appeal.

But let’s continue about your new album. The title of your new album Love in a Time of Madness. Is that a conscious derivative of the Gabriel Garcia Marquez book and what is the madness you are referring to?

JJ: For the longest time it was my working title and I wasn’t sure if it was going to be my actual title. It was about two and a half years ago when we started this. We weren’t in the full Trump era yet and all of this extended police brutality against African Americans and people of color hadn’t really hit the point where it is now. I find it almost debilitating. It has been kind of on my mind. Trump had started making remarks about women and I think the concept of trying to find something to hold on to, in a literal time of madness, was really attractive to me and I started to work towards that. 

The madness part started to get totally crazy, it just got totally bananas man. You know the racism, the sexism, the economic instability, the Brexit vote, immigration wow. I just got overwhelmed by the realities of the news every day. So I thought, I don’t know if people want me or need me to put out a political album? It‘s so in your face already. The twenty-four-hour news cycle has been tough for me. So I decided to focus on a solution. For me that’s love. That is trying to connect to someone else, other than yourself. Also there are higher levels of the writing on the album that I hope people pick up on, you know trying to connect to a higher power or a higher source. Also to be honest with yourself. This is an honest album for me, you know it is not all roses and cupcakes.

NOJ: Not at all. I can see the gamut of emotions in this album. You touch on loss, fidelity, infidelity, arrogance, desire, infatuation. I mean it’s all there.

JJ: Yeah.

NOJ: I guess you were trying to convey love and all its messy truths, as an antidote to all the madness around you is that an accurate reading?

"I just got overwhelmed by the realities of the news every day. So I decided to focus on a solution. For me that's love." 

JJ: Absolutely. Really, that is the only solution that I have been able to come up with. The economy is unstable. I perform in like forty countries a year. I have a lot of friends all over. We are all in the same boat. Everyone is just trying to pay the rent and stay focused and have a future. The only constant that I can see that we can draw on is either faith or love. And love is the one thing that sort of crosses not only genres but different religions and faith. Not to get super John Lennon on you, but I think love is the only way forward for all humanity.

NOJ: Love is all there is.

JJ: It’s all there is man. The opposite of love is kind of what we’re up against. Distrust and fear, and that is not just a long-term solution.

NOJ:  You have always seem to push yourself musically. a commendable trait. You have always blurred genres and challenged yourself to be true to the music as you saw it at any given time. What was challenging to you about the music in this new album?

JJ: The challenging thing was twofold. First getting out of the way. I have always been such a control freak over my career. I have produced or written most of my albums that were not standards. This was really one of the first times when I said, I just want to be a singer. I want to write a little bit. I want to write as much as I want to and I want to focus on really expanding my voice. I started taking voice lessons again for the first time in twenty years. I started pushing myself the way like an Olympic athlete would push themselves, really specific stuff. The other thing was I had to change the way that I sang completely. I don’t mean technically, but stylistically. In jazz you are way more behind the beat, you have a wide vibrato. There is a wide sense of pitch sometimes, like you slide into notes differently. R andB there is no vibrato, it’s on, it’s a straight eighth note. So I really had to work hard, changing up my style because what I didn’t want it to sound like was someone who came from jazz singing R & B. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I wanted it to be very serious, contemporary R & B. It took a minute to switch over. I had been singing Billie Holiday for a solid year.

NOJ: You have an extraordinary instrument, why change your style so dramatically, embellish the music with so many electronics and effects that it subjugates that instrument to a less prominent role?

JJ: This is the kind of way I want to sing right now. If you look at it in terms of like a writer. If you write a certain kind of fiction, maybe you want to try writing a crime novel. For me its more about trying to expand my craft. It was really the Billie Holiday album; that album, that material, that trio- for me I kind of like I of hit my zenith in jazz right now. I can’t imagine surpassing that album artistically and frankly I am not satisfied with anything less than excellence. So I said ok, what else do I want to do, what is it that I have not done.

NOJ: You were once quoted as saying no other music is as satisfying as jazz. You went to the New School and studied with Junior (Mance) and you studied with Chico (Hamilton). Do you still feel that way about jazz or has it changed?

JJ: I don’t think it has changed per se. I just think change is good. I don’t want to say I will never sing jazz again. The irony of all this is that Fifty Shades Darker the soundtrack is out now and its number one on Bill Board and I am singing “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” and “You Can’t Take That Away From Me.” So there you go.

NOJ: Yeah, I get it. When you become too enamored with something you stop growing. It’s like when Miles was asked why he stopped playing ballads he answered “because I like them too much.”

JJ: Absolutely.

NOJ: Most singers gravitate toward a good melody and good lyrics. You once said for you music is about the rhythm. Can you expound on that?

JJ: Well, I believe I read Charlie Parker talking about this somewhere. The rhythm is what advances first. If you’re talking about jazz music, you’re talking about Black music your talking about African music or African-American music, then the rhythm has always been the catalyst that really changes everything. So like, swing was this new beat that everyone jumped on and it had endless variations. That evolved into a lot of things, the backbeat, rhythm and blues, and all this other stuff. To me I always get excited by the beat, you know the rhythm. When I was in London, I fell in love with dubstep, drum and bass, broken beat and right now, what is exciting to me, is what we call trap beat, because it’s the newest beat for me since J. Dilla behind the beat hip-hop. Definitely it’s a growing thing. I see Glasper is experimenting with it. Definitely Christian Scott is working it out with Justin Brown and his band. Its interesting for me as a musician to take the parts of popular music and popular culture and put my own thing on top of it. Which is what we did on “Let if Fall” or Last Night.”

"...rhythm has always been the catalyst that really changes everything."

NOJ: Is there any song that you are closest to or particularly fond of on this album ?

JJ: As a performer I really like “What Good is Love” because it is the most operatic. The range is super wide and lyrically ... I have written some of my favorite lyrics. Singing with Oletta Adams, that is just a dream come true. “I’m Yours,” to be able to write a song and give it to an artist of her stature and her not only liking the song, but also wanting to record it and sound so good on it, that’s huge. Both of the collaborations, the one with Mali Music, is really special because I think we actually collaborated, meaning we created something new for each of us.

NOJ: (Robert) Glasper was recently quoted in an interview with Ethan Iverson as saying that he sometimes wanted to forgoe improvisational soloing and just get into long extended grooves.

JJ: It just feels good. You know what I mean. There is a reason why I am touring with just a drummer, because that is the most important part of my setup. Really, it always has been. I am more connected to the drums.

NOJ: So on your concert tour it’s just you and drummer Nate Smith?

JJ: Nate Smith for the U.S. and Richard Spaven for the E.U. and South America. Got to give the drummer some.

NOJ: How do you incorporate the art of improvisation in your music?

JJ: On this particular album?

NOJ: In general.

JJ: I think I am just open to the moment. I have come to the place where I believe it has to mean something for me to leave the written word or the melody. When I was younger, I definitely sang just to hear how it would sound and I was infatuated with Coltrane and Bird like everybody else. There is definitely something to that process, but I think any artist gets to the point where it has to have an emotional resonance. To me that is exciting. If you have done a variation on something that has been done before and to know that it is different because your different, that’s what is cool to me.

NOJ: Your delivery, especially on some of your rap and soul material, is reminiscent of the great Gil Scott-Heron. Was he an influence?

JJ: Yes and no. I was definitely aware of him and loved his catalogue. Early on people said Gil Scott-Heron when the Dreamer came out. He wasn’t anyone that I studied like I did with Billie or Coltrane. There were a few names that always came up right away Terry Callier, Gil Scott-Heron and Jon Lucien.

NOJ: Wow, Jon Lucien is a name I haven't heard in quite a long time. He did a magical version of "Dindi" from 1970 that just killed it.

JJ: Yeah, these guys are amazing. So, to get back to your question, Gil wasn’t a huge obvious influence, but he was a very influential person who I respect tremendously. What you said makes sense, he probably influenced a bunch of people who influenced me. Like every person in hip-hop.( Laughing)

NOJ: You always seem to have two or three projects on the burner what can we expect next from you?

JJ: The second I’m finished with one album I start working on the next one, so I am already working on that. I am hoping actually, without giving away too much, I am hoping to work with Christian McBride a little bit closer than I have in the past. We have collaborated on a few things. We really work well together.  He is the busiest man in show business.

NOJ: My wife, who is not the biggest of jazz fans, loves him. We have seen him several times. The man has so much talent its astounding.

JJ: So much talent, so much. I want to do more stuff with him and I don’t know exactly what shape it will take, but we are going to make it happen.

NOJ: You start this tour March 16, 2017 at Center Stage in Atlanta and the how many dates do you have booked?

JJ: We are going through May 18, 20017 ending in Santiago, Chile. We go through April in the U.S ending in Seattle and then we go onto the E.U. for the rest of April and into May and then down to Mexico and South America so it’s a world tour. It’s going to be going all year.

NOJ: That’s quite rigorous. You are married and have a young daughter that must be tough.

JJ: Yeah, you know I love performing. I think anybody who is with a professional performer that is just part of the deal. I wouldn’t be happy if I couldn’t do it. I’m home a week and I start to think about gigs.(Laughs)

NOJ: I read somewhere that you did a bit of acting in the movie Fifty Shades of Darker?

JJ: That was an amazing experience. We recorded the songs for the soundtrack at Capital in studio "B" where Frank Sinatra originally recorded them using the same microphone. I got chills just walking in there with all that history. My first takes were just terrible because there was just too much history. We recorded everything as authentically as possible. I believe the tenor player was the same guy that was on the original Sinatra recording.

NOJ: How did you get into the acting gig?

JJ: In Fifty Shades of Darker, music is like the star in both the book and the movies, which is super cool. They really wanted, the director James Foley, wanted, an authentic feel across the board. The music, the sets, and everything about it. They were looking for a real jazz singer, who could really deliver the song, but also that had a look that was very multi-cultural, super cool and young. Thankfully I got the call. I went to Vancouver, and had an amazing three days of just working on one of the biggest projects I have ever been a part of. To this date, I think it has grossed $350 million dollars worldwide.

NOJ: I also read that you have aspirations to write a novel?

JJ: I do man. I have been taking notes for about eight years at this point. Every year I tell myself I am going to carve out some time to nail to nail down the first chapters, and every year I get busier and busier. The goal is to get busy enough so that I can take an entire year of and then I can sit down and just write this thing. It will be a crime novel based in New York City.

NOJ: Cool. I’m sure your listening fan base would be distraught if you took off a whole year without singing, but you got to do what you got to do. Follow your muse where ever it goes.

JJ: Exactly, but I’ll be happy when I get a book down.

NOJ: Thanks for taking the time to speak with us. I appreciate it. Good luck with the album, the tour and your career. 

Twenty-Five Great Jazz Soprano Saxophone Performances

The soprano Saxophone has been the stepchild to its large brothers, the Alto and Tenor saxophones in jazz music. Despite a lineage that dates to the early twenties, the soprano was not widely used as a solo instrument in many early jazz recordings, with most soloists preferring the clarinet for its warmer, richer sound. The soprano is typically found as a straight barreled instrument although small curved horns that look like baby alto saxophones with a straighter crook are also in use. The saxophone was invented by Adolphe Sax in 1846. Modern soprano instruments have a range of between Ab3 to E6 pitched one octave higher than the tenor, but some skilled players can play in the altissimo register allowing them to play even higher.

Sidney Bechet photo credit unknown

It has been said that the great Sidney Bechet, a New Orleans born classically trained musician, discovered a quality soprano saxophone while on tour in England with Marion Cook’s Southern Syncopated Orchestra, sometime around 1920. Bechet, who was a world class clarinetist, wanted a solo instrument that could better stand up to the louder brass cornets and trombones of the era. In the soprano, he found that the bright, piercing sound of the instrument had the strong, clear voice he was looking for and people started to notice.  Bechet is considered by many to be the father of the soprano saxophone in jazz. While certainly the most celebrated player of his era, he was not the only practitioner of this quirky horn back in the twenties. The first record that I found featuring Bechet on a serpentine soprano solo was from Clarence Williams Blue Five recording of “Wild Cat Blues” recorded on July 23, 1923 in NYC. Boyd Atkins was famously heard several years later playing a momentous soprano saxophone solo while with Louis Armstrong and his Stompers on “Chicago Breakdown” from 1927.  Duke Ellington would sometimes use multi- reed players Johnny Hodges and Otto Hardwick to play soprano as a section instrument in his orchestra, but on occasion the soprano was featured as a solo instrument as with Johnny Hodges beautiful work on “Harmony in Harlem” from 1937. 

Lucky Thompson photo credit unknown

By the nineteen forties the premier practitioner of the soprano was the inimitable multi-reedist Lucky Thompson. You can hear some of his brilliant work while he was in Paris back in October 1960 on a session where he recorded the sensuous “Lover Man.” Thompson became disenchanted with the music business in the United States and moved to Paris from 1957-1962. It was after all Paris that had so thoroughly embraced Sidney Bechet in the early twenties both because of his musicianship and because Bechet’s Creole heritage had ties to the French language and to French colonialism in hometown of New Orleans. It was here that Thompson, though predominantly known as a tenor player, became more interested in the soprano and would continue to pioneer its use in more modern jazz. You can hear the man’s brilliant command of this difficult instrument on such tunes as Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Way” from his 1964 album Lucky Strikes.

By the late fifties and into the sixties another young saxophonist was starting to go his own way on the instrument, abandoning his Dixieland roots and focusing exclusively on the high register horn with a more modern approach.  Saxophonist Steven Norman Lackritz aka Steve Lacy is perhaps best known as the soprano’s modern-day Sidney Bechet. His debut album was aptly titled Soprano Sax and was recorded in 1957.  After playing with Thelonious Monk he became enamored with the quirky pianist’s compositions and rarely performed or recorded without including at least one Monk tune in his repertoire. Lacy also adventured into the avant-garde and the experimental music scene. His work and the work of saxophonist John Coltrane on the soprano would influence legions of players that followed.

Steve Lacy photo credit unknown

Reportedly Miles Davis purchased a soprano for his saxophonist at the time John Coltrane, while the group was on tour in Europe in March of 1960.  Coltrane started progressively using the straight horn and  he soon after broke from Davis to form his own group with McCoy Tyner on piano, Steve Davis on bass and Elvin Jones on drums. At that time only Steve Lacy was actively utilizing the instrument in jazz.  The instrument had little reach outside its limited use in the world of jazz until saxophonist John Coltrane made his ground-breaking album My Favorite Things using his soprano. The adventurous Coltrane made the soprano soar on this modal exploration of a Rogers & Hammerstein song from the Broadway show The Sound of Music. The song was transformed into a hypnotically driven, raga inspired chant whose melody was immediately familiar despite its wildly exploratory improvisational forays over a repeated vamp.  It became an instant hit and a vital bridge to an expanding non-jazz audience. It also opened the doors for many future players to explore the transcendental, eastern inspired sound of this unique instrument. The multi-instrumentalist ( not yet Rahsaan)  Roland Kirk played a manzello quite proficiently. The manzello is a King saxello soprano saxophone with an extended bell. Kirk made his statement on the instrument in the late sixties with his “A Handful of Fives.”

Since Coltrane, world and jazz music has seen a proliferation of players who have taken the instrument down new and unexpected paths. When fusion came on the scene in the early seventies, mixing the bombast of rock with the improvisational bravado of jazz, the soprano found its way into the music. Saxophonist’s like Pharaoh Sanders, a Coltrane disciple, took the music into a spiritual mode allowing us all to “Astral Travel” with or without the aid of hallucinogens from his 1971 album Thembi.  

Multi-reed players who mostly played tenor would occasionally feature their soprano skills throughout their careers. Notable players like Zoot Sims, who came to the soprano relatively late in his career, did a beautiful version of “Moonlight in Vermont” from his 1976 album Soprano Sax. The masterful Jerome Richardson was no stranger to the soprano and his work can be heard from the early fifties into the late nineties on such big bands as the Mingus Big Band and Oliver Nelson’s Big Band. His work is represented here as a featured solist in the  Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra on the song “The Waltz You Swang for Me” from the 1968 live at the Village Vanguard recording.  At the same time Bechet devotees like Bob Wiber and Kenny Davern would keep the Dixieland spirit of the old master alive, although admittedly modernized, with songs like “Song of Songs” a dueling soprano performance from 1977.

No list of soprano masters would be complete without the extraordinary work of the great Wayne Shorter. His legionnaire work with his band Weather Report and on his own solo efforts are trailblazingly beautiful. Perhaps one of his most memorable performances for me was “Beauty and the Beast” from his seminal album Native Son from 1974.

Other notable soprano players included Dave Liebman, Joe Farrell, Gerry Niewood, Joshua Redman, John Lurie, Jane Ira Bloom, Jane Bunnett, Jan Gabarek, John Surman, Klaus Doldinger, Kenny Garrett, Steve Wilson, Sonny Fortune, Dick Oatts, Billy Drewes, Bill Kirchner, Bob Sheppard, Chris Cheek, Chris Potter, James Carter, Jeff Coffin and Paul Mc Candless. The saxophonist Branford Marsalis has become a superb player on the soprano and has distinguished himself from a fine field of newer players. The avant-garde modernist Evan Parker has carved himself his own place with a sound like no other. The inimitable Sam Newsome is in a class by himself having taken the instrument into new areas of sonic experimentation and texture.

In the field of popular crossover, soprano saxophonists that come to mind are Grover Washington Jr, Bob Mintzer of the Yellowjackets, and Jay Bechinstein of Spyro Gyra, and in  the smooth jazz arena there is Dave Koz, Najee and of course Kenny G to name a few. Amazingly it is Kenny G's soprano saxophone on "Going Home" that has probably been the most played song on the instrument in its history! It is often used in China, even twenty-five years after it was recorded, to signal to shoppers that it is closing time and indeed time to go home.

I could not have assembled such a well studied list without the generous help of saxophonist, arranger and educator Bill Kirchner, multi-reedist Scott Robinson, and saxophonists Michael Blake and Dave Anderson. To them I offer my sincerest thanks. With the above brief history, and acknowledging in advance to having undoubtedly left off some important players whom I may not be aware of, here are my picks for twenty-five great jazz soprano saxophone performances in roughly chronological order:

Sidney Bechet “Wild Cat Blues” from Clarence Williams Blue Five; Sidney Bechet, sop sax; Clarence Williams, piano; Thomas Morris, cornet; John Mayfield, trombone; Buddy Christian, banjo.  Recorded in NYC  1923

Boyd Atkins: “Chicago Breakdown” from Louis Armstrong and His Stompers with Louis Armstrong, trumpet; Boyd Atkins, sop sax; Frank Walker, baritone sax; Rip Bassett, banjo/guitar; Earl Hines, piano; Albert Washington, tenor sax; Honore Dutry, trombone; Bill Wilson, cornet; Tubby Hall drums. Recorded in Chicago, Illinois 1927

Johnny Hodges: “Harlem in Harmony” with the Duke Ellington Orchestra recorded in September 20,  1937  in NYC with Johnny Hodges , sop sax;  Duke Ellington, piano; Rex Stewart, cornet; Cootie Williams, Arthur Whetsel, Freddie Jenkins, trumpets; Joe Nanton, Lawrence Brown, trombones; Juan Tizol valve trombone; Barney Bigard, clarinet; Otto Hardwick, alto and clarinet; Harry Carney, baritone sax; Freddy Guy, guitar; Billy Taylor, bass,  Sonny Greer, drums.

Steve Lacy : “Day Dream”  from the album Soprano Sax recorded November 1, 1957  at Van Gelder studios in Hackensack , NJ with Wynton Kelly, piano; Buell Neidinger, bass; Dennis Charles, drums.

Lucky Thompson: “In A Sentimental Mood” from his album Lucky Strikes recorded September 15, 1964 at Van Gelder Studios in Hackensack, NJ  with Lucky Thompson, sop sax; Hank Jones, piano; Richard Davis, piano; Connie Kay , drums.

John Coltrane: “My Favorite Things” for his album My Favorite Things recorded October 21,24 and 26^th 1960 with John Coltrane, sop sax; McCoy Tyner, piano; Steve Davis, bass; Elvin Jones, drums.

Rahsaan Roland Kirk: “Handful of Fives” from his album The Inflated Tear recorded November 27-31, 1967 with Roland Kirk, manzello; Ron Burton, piano; Steve Novosel, bass; Jimmy Hopps, drums; Dick Griffin, trombone.

Jerome Richardson: “The Waltz You Swang for Me” from his work on the album Monday Night Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra live at the Village Vanguard album from October 1968 recorded at the Village Vanguard in NYC with Jerome Richardson, sop sax; Richard Davis , bass; Thad Jones, flugelhorn; Mel Lewis, drums, Roland Hanna, piano; Jerry Dodgian, alto sax; Seldon Powell, tenor sax; Eddie Daniels, tenor sax; Pepper Adams, baritone sax; Richard Williams, SnookyYoung, Danny Moore, Jimmy Nottingham, trumpets; Jimmy Knepper, Garnet Brown, Jimmy Cleveland, Cliff Heather, trombones.

Pharaoh Sanders: “Astral Traveling” from his album Thembi recorded November 1970 and January 1971 in California with Pharoah Sanders sop sax; Lonnie Liston Smith, Fender Rhodes; Michael White, violin; Cecil McBee, bass; Clifford Jarvis, drums.

Dave Liebman, Joe Farrell and Steve Grossman: “Brite Piece” from Elvin Jones Merry Go Round recorded Feb 12, and December 16, 1971 at Van Gelder Studios, Engelwood Cliffs, NJ with

Dave Liebman, Joe Farrell and Steve Grossman, sop saxes; Elvin Jones, drums, Gene Perla, bass; Jan Hammer, electric piano; Don Alias, oriental bells.

Here is a live performance of the group in France in 1972 unfortunately without the great Joe Farrell or Don Alias, and with Steve Grossman on tenor.

Joe Farrell: “La Fiesta” from Chick Corea’s Return to Forever recorded February 2nd & 3^rd, 1972 in London with Joe Farrell, sop sax; Chick Corea, electric piano; Stanley Clarke, bass;  Airto Moreira, drums and percussion; Flora Purim , vocals and percussion;  “La Fiesta” starting at 38:00 minute mark

Grover Washington Jr.: “Invitation” from a live broadcast on WBCN in Boston, Mass in Spring of 1973 with Grover Washington Jr., sop sax; Bill Meek, Fender Rhodes; Charles Fambrough, bass; Daryl Brown, drums.

Wayne Shorter: ”Beauty and the Beast” from his album Native Dancer recorded in 1974  with Wayne Shorter, sop sax; Milton Nascimento, vocals; David Amaro, guitar; Jay Graydon, bass; Herbie Hancock, piano and keyboards; Wagner Tiso, organ; Dave McDaniel, bass; Roberto Silva, drums; Airto Moreira, percussion.

Zoot Sims: “Moonlight in Vermont” from his album Zoot Sims- Soprano Sax recorded January 8^th and 9^th 1976 at RCA Studios NYC with Ray Bryant, piano; George Mraz, bass; Grady Tate, drums.

Bob Wilber and Kenny Davern: “Song of Songs” from a live performance in October 1977 with Bob Wilber curved bell sop sax; Kenny Davern, straight sop sax; Bucky Pizzarelli, guitar; Geroge Duvivier, bass; Bobby Rosengarten, drums.

Gerry Niewood: “Joy” from his album Gerry Niewood and Timepiece from 1976 with Gerry Niewood, sop sax; Dave Samuels, electric vibes; Rick Laird, bass; Ron Davis, drums.

Klaus Doldinger: “Ataraxia Part 1 & 2” from the album by his group Passport Ataraxia recorded in Germany 1978 with Klaus Doldinger sop sax and keyboards; Dieter Petereit, bass; Willie Ketzer, drums;  Roy Louis, guitars; Hendrik Schaper, keyboards; Elmer Louis, percussion.

Dick Oatts: “Ding Dong Ding” from the Mel Lewis and the Jazz Orchestra with Bob Brookmeyer recorded live at the Village Vanguard 1980 with Dick Oatts sop sax; Jim McNeely, piano; Rufus Reid, Bass; Mel Lewis, drums; Bob Mintzer, Steve Coleman, Gary Pribeck, Richard Perry, reeds; Bob Brookmeyer, trombone and arranger; Earl McIntyre, John Mosca, Lee Robertson, Lolly Bienenfeld, trombones; Earl Gardner, Larry MosesRon Tooley, trumpets; Stepahnie Fauber, French horn.

Jane Ira Bloom: “The Man with the Glasses” from her album Mighty Lights recorded at Vanguard Studios in NYC  November 17 and 18, 1982 with Jane Ira Bloom, sop sax; Charlie Haden, bass; Fred Hersch, piano; Ed Blackwell, drums.

Chris Cheek: “Ice Fall” from his album Vine recorded 1999 with Chris Cheek , sop sax; Brad Mehldau, electric piano, Kurt Rosenwinkel, guitar; Matt Penman, bass; Jorge Rossy, drums.

Sam Newsome: “Toy Tune” from the Orrin Evans Album Grown Folk Bizness  released in Oct 1999 with Sam Newsome, sop sax; Orrin Evans, piano; Rodney Witaker, bass; Ralph Peterson, drums.

Branford Marsalis: “The Ruby and the Pearl” from his album Eternal  recorded October 7-10^th, 2003 with Branford Marsalis, sop sax; Joey Calderazzo, piano, Eric Revis Bass, Jeff “Tain” Watts,  drums.

Paul McCandless: “May or Mai” live in concert with Antonio Calogero in Messina, Italy on November 28, 2007 with Paul McCandless, sop sax; Antonio Calogero, classical guitar.

Kenny Garrett: “Detroit” from Seeds from the Underground released April 2012 with Kenny Garrett, sop sax;  Benito Gonzales, piano; Nat Reeves, bass, Rudy Bird Percussion; Ronald Bruner drums;  Nedelka Prescod, vocal.

Jan Gabarek: live at Mai Jazz Festival in Stvanger Cocnert in Norway,  2013  with Jan Gabarek, sop sax; Rainer Brǘninghaus, keyboards; Trilok Gurtu, drums; Youri Daniel , bass.

You may also like to check out my Twenty-Five Great Jazz Baritone Performances

by clicking here. Or if your into jazz flute my Twenty-Five Great Jazz Flute Perfromances by clicking here.