Joe Lovano "Quartets"
Blue Note, 724382912521(2 CDs 128 mins)
Dial-a-track code 1531
Teddy Edwards "Tango In Harlem"
Verve, 527468-2 (70 mins) Dial-a-track code 1641
Charles McPherson "Come Play With Me"
Arabesque, AJ0117 (61 mins) Dial-a-track code 1751
Two very different quartets, recorded live at New York's famed Village Vanguard in 1994 and 1995, impressively display the range of saxophonist Joe Lovano. On the first, with Tom Harrell, Anthony Cox and Billy Hart, he handles a mixture of originals and standards with astonishing freedom and cohesion. And in his subtle, delicate, yet marvelously uninhibited pursuit of the possibilities of the material, he is part of a group interplay that is little short of amazing. Seldom, since Sonny Rollins clearly an influence was at his peak, has tenor playing of this calibre been captured on record. The second quartet, with Mulgrew Miller, Christian McBride and Lewis Nash, is more straight ahead, but just as engaging, with Lovano pushed by a propulsive rhythm section in which Miller, especially, is outstanding. This is jazz of the highest calibre.
Rollins is also an influence on Teddy Edwards's exceptional release, not least because the format tenor, bass drums is one Rollins made hips own. With the often brilliant support of Christian McBride and Billy Higgins, Edwards fashions possibly one of his finest albums, using the blues originals and seldom played standards like Besame Macho, Alfie, Undecided and his own Sunset Eyes.
As for saxophonist Charles McPherson's new release, it's a passionately burnished example of the Keeper Of The Flame alto playing that is pure Charlie Parker. McPherson romps through a quartet session from last March with swaggering self confidence, awesome technique and ideas to match, superbly supported by Mulgrew Miller and Lewis Nash with Santi Debriano on bass instead of McBride, this is the rhythm section that inspired Lovano on his hop date. And well as McPherson plays, Miller almost up stages him with piano playing of magisterial quality.
Cedar Walton "Manhattan Afternoon"
Criss Cross, 1082 (57 mins)
Dial-a-track code 1861
Kenny Werner "Live at Visiones"
Concord, CCD-4675 (59 mins) Dial-a-track code 1971
Walter Norris "Duo"
Concord, CCD-4671 (59 mins) Dial-a-track code 2081
Milt Buckner "Masterpieces" MPS, 529094-2 (76 mins)
Dial-a-track code 2191
Piano playing of this calibre is also a feature of Cedar Walton's 1992 trio alblum. Made with long time colleagues David Williams and Billy Higgins, it's a classic demonstration of straight ahead trio jazz, full of beautifully nuanced interplay, compulsively swinging and, despite the group's evident comfort together, with enough surprises to keep the music constantly refreshed and renewed. More adventurous, but of a similarly high order, is the work of Kenny Werner's trio, completed by Werner's longtime collaborators, Ratzo Harris and Tom Rainey. Recorded last August in one of New York's best clubs, the trio's form is, if anything, even better than on its highly rated 1991 Press Enter CD on Sunnyside.
Walter Norris's date is part of Concord's duo series, this time with the virtuosic but nourishing bass of George Mraz. They make a fascinating contrast, Norris's introspective tendencies constantly invigorated by Mraz's hugely definite responses. The result is something much more swinging than Norris's solo performances, while at the same time shedding none of the subtlety that marks his playing in that context. And it's also delightfully different from either Walton's or Werner's sessions. As was the late Milt Buckner although Master pieces is too overstated a title for this selection from three late Sixties albums, More Chords, Play Chords and Locked Hands. With Jimmy Woode and either Kenny Clare or Jo Jones, Buckner swings infectiously through a programme of standards, but the reliance on his "locked hands" chordal style dilutes the music's capacity to surprise.
