Ray Brown: Some of My Best Friends are... the Sax Players (1996)

As a follow-up to bassist Ray Brown's previous record in which he collaborated with several of his favorite pianists, Some of My Best Friends Are...The Sax Players features six major saxophonists (tenors Joe Lovano, Ralph Moore, Joshua Redman and Stanley Turrentine plus altoists Benny Carter and Jesse Davis) on two songs apiece with his regular trio. Although more than 60 years separate the ageless Carter from Redman, each of the saxes originally developed their own voice in the straight-ahead jazz tradition. Highlights of the colorful set include Benny Carter's playful rendition of "Love Walked In," Moore's cooking solo on "Crazeology" (a Benny Harris bop classic which the record mistakenly lists as written by Bud Freeman), Davis ripping through "Moose the Mooche" and Turrentine's romp on the blues "Port of Rico." Pianist Benny Green and drummer Gregory Hutchinson provide suitable accompaniment (Green's solos are consistently excellent) and all dozen of the songs are successful and swinging. As an extra bonus, on the latter part of the CD each of the saxophonists has a brief chat (between 26 seconds and a minute apiece) with Brown about their early influences. There is so much good feeling and obvious mutual respect shown that one wishes these talks were at least twice as long; the Benny Carter segment is most memorable. This well-conceived project is easily recommended. ~ Scott Yanow

Tracklist:
1. How High The Moon
2. Love Walked In
3. Polka Dots And Moonbeams
4. Crazeology
5. Port Of Rico
6. Moose The Mooche
7. Easy Living
8. Just You, Just Me
9. Fly Me To The Moon
10. (When It's) Sleepy Time Down South
11. These Foolish Things
12. God Bless The Child
13. Ray Brown In Conversation With Guest Artists: Joe Lovano
14. Ray Brown In Conversation With Guest Artists: Benny Carter
15. Ray Brown In Conversation With Guest Artists: Stanley Turrentine
16. Ray Brown In Conversation With Guest Artists: Jesse Davis
17. Ray Brown In Conversation With Guest Artists: Joshua Redman
18. Ray Brown In Conversation With Guest Artists: Ralph Moore
Ray Brown Trio: Ray Brown (bass); Benny Green (piano); Gregory Hutchinson (drums).

Additional personnel: Benny Carter, Jesse Davis (alto saxophone); Joe Lovano, Ralph Moore, Joshua Redman, Stanley Turrentine (tenor saxophone).

Some Of My Best Friends Are ... The Sax Players
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Joe Lovano Us Five: Folk Art (2009)

In his 57th year, the saxophonist, composer and bandleader Joe Lovano is something of a jazz absolute: consistent in quality but traversing schools, styles and formats in a way that argues the music has somewhere to go without accommodating pop. His 2009 Blue Note release, Folk Art, recorded with a new group he calls Us Five, only reinforces his reputation as the consummate jazzman, an explorer and historian in equal doses. Folk Art is centered in postbop but plays in and around the avant-garde, and it features elements that, on paper, might seem gimmicky, but in Lovano’s hands foster thrilling music.

A cross-generational quintet, Us Five features two drummers, Otis Brown II and Francisco Mela, and Lovano uses them to ramp up the intensity as well as multiply the options for exchange. (“It’s as if there are 20 different bands,” he told JT’s Geoffrey Himes.) Then there’s Lovano’s arsenal of texturally brazen woodwind oddities, including the taragato and aulochrome, and the fact that Folk Art is his first album featuring his original compositions exclusively. Those tunes, alternately burning (“Powerhouse”), loping (“Folk Art”), tender (“Song for Judi”) and askew (the Ornette homage “Ettenro”), brilliantly underscore the group’s sensibility—one of dynamic interaction and aesthetic versatility. E.H.

Tracklist:
1. Powerhouse 4:09
2. Folk Art 10:05
3. Wild Beauty 7:17
4. Us Five 8:09
5. Song For Judi 5:46
6. Drum Song 8:30
7. Dibango 6:44
8. Page 4 5:52
9. Ettenro 8:12
Personnel:
Joe Lovano - saxes
Esperanza Spalding - bass
James Weidman - piano
Francisco Mela - drums
Otis Brown III - drums
Folk Art
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