At age eighty, tenor saxophonist, composer and band leader
Benny Golson is still going strong, and although he experienced a few lean years, is very much a force on the modern mainstream jazz scene in the years of the 2000s. He has revived the spirit of his original
Jazztet, co-founded with the late trumpeter
Art Farmer, on several occasions since the ensemble was originally founded in 1959. This edition features a strong front line of
Golson, trumpeter
Eddie Henderson, and trombonist
Steve Davis, players from different generations who completely understand the hard and post-bop language. The rhythm section is even more delicious, with pianist
Mike LeDonne, peerless bassist
Buster Williams, and younger drummer
Carl Allen working together in the best sense of that ideal. As one of the more literate, articulate, and outspoken representatives of the jazz world,
Golson continues to translate it into a broader base of influences. "Verdi's Voice" is a Baroque type waltz with harder edges from
LeDonne and
Williams, while the layered horn sections are at once kinetic and static. The rustic ballad "L'Adieu" with
Henderson's muted trumpet echoes
Chopin. In an uncomplicated romp that sounds Russian, "Gypsy Jingle-Jangle" bumps up to a fast hard bop like the original
Jazztet, with
Golson unshackled and flying. As a democratic leader focused on balance,
Golson is happy to give the other bandmates their space, as
Davis fronts "Grove's Grove" in a laid-back groove à la
Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, with the leader's quiet resolve present on an observant solo. "Uptown Afterburn" is another prototype, an unapologetic hard bopper, a new tune that could easily have been done by the
Jazztet of the '60s.
Al Jarreau joins the band for an unhurried take of
Golson's all-time classic "Whisper Not," with vocal comping and a cute second chorus. The
Sonny Rollins standard "Airegin" is covered well, not as fast as it has been known, starting with the striking bass/piano ostinato tandem lines that immediately grab any listener and pulls him in -- a device that codifies modern jazz. A killer version of
Thelonious Monk's "Epistrophy" is a stroke of genius, as
Golson's unique arrangement has
Williams and
LeDonne again locked in, with
Allen's brief solo warming to a churning rhythm that leaps out of the speakers, with the sextet punching through the melody in heavyweight fashion.
Golson can also write soft, silky ballads as "From Dream to Dream" with
Henderson's musings and the tenor man sighing, while "Love Me in a Special Way" has the muted trombone tones of
Davis lifting up the wise and mature tenor of
Golson. In the end, the watchwords for this recording are erudite, refined, intelligent, and above all, sophisticated. Appreciative veteran jazz lovers will want this excellent set of straight-ahead jazz from one of the true masters who needs to reclaim or affirm nothing in his decades as one of the true legends in American music. ~ Michael G. Nastos