Recorded at the storied Rudy Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Eric Alexander's 2014 effort, Chicago Fire, finds the tenor saxophonist paying tribute to the city that helped shape his sound and career. Having studied with pianist and Chicago native Harold Mabern while at William Patterson College, Alexander established himself in the Windy City after graduating in the early '90s. He has worked with Mabern ever since and their mutual love and musical synergy is palpable here. Also backing Alexander are his longtime compatriots bassist John Webber and drummer Joe Farnsworth. Trumpeter and High Note labelmate Jeremy Pelt also joins in on several cuts. As with all of Alexander's output, Chicago Fire is a no-nonsense set of original and cover songs that showcases his passionate, swinging, straight-ahead jazz sound. - Matt Collar
When weighing the merits of tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, two words spring readily to mind: prolific and consistent. Alexander, an implacable workhorse even in his mid-40s, has since 1992 recorded no less than thirty-seven albums as leader of his own groups and appeared on many others as a sideman. As for consistency, Alexander has been widely praised, and rightly so, for his awesome technique and seemingly endless reservoir of eye-opening ad libs. In other words, he approaches every theme with the utmost precision and within his sphere has never been known to deliver a solo that is less than earnest and provocative.
Chicago Fire, on which Alexander salutes the city in which he earned his professional spurs after graduating from William Paterson University in New Jersey, is clearly no exception to that rule. Whatever the mood or tempo, spellbinding notes and phrases flow from Alexander's horn as smoothly as honey from a jar. After more than twenty years paying dues, he has reached a point at which prudence has long since given way to unwavering self-assurance. Alexander burns when he has to, plays the blues with unfeigned warmth and perception, and generally shows why his well-earned reputation as a musician who always delivers the goods is by no means misapplied.
No one, of course, can build a castle by himself, and Alexander owes much for the success of ChicagoFire to the constancy of his rhythm section of choice (pianist / mentor Harold Mabern, bassist John Webber, drummer Joe Farnsworth), with whom he has performed and recorded so often that the measure of their rapport is near-telepathic. The quartet is enhanced on three tracks ("Save Your Love for Me,""The Bee Hive,""You Talk That Talk") by the splendid young trumpeter Jeremy Pelt whose bright and perceptive solos add more spice to the menu, as do those by Farnsworth and Mabern (whose spoken dialogue with Webber about the late tenor Von Freeman and the heyday of Chicago jazz serves as a proper introduction to Alexander's warmhearted "Blueski for Vonski").
Mabern wrote "The Bee Hive" for one of the Windy City's once-thriving nightclubs, "Mr. Stitt" for the legendary saxophonist who spent a number of years in Chicago, mainly as part of a two-tenor tandem with Gene Ammons, while Alexander pays homage to another of the city's renowned tenors with "Eddie Harris." Alexander is masterful throughout, perhaps at his chops-testing peak on a warp-speed rendition of Cole Porter's "Just One of Those Things," showing again that when it comes to marvelous tunes, it's hard to beat the Great American Songbook. And when it comes to persuasive straight-ahead jazz with a Windy City accent, it's hard to beat the Eric Alexander Quartet and Chicago Fire. - Jack Bowers
En Chicago Fire, la nueva grabación de Eric Alexander en High Note, el saxofonista rinde homenaje a la ciudad de Chicago, y en concreto a algunos de los saxofonistas de Windy City. Conociendo las inclinaciones estilísticas de este músico, está claro que entre los homenajeados no están ni algunos de los potentes sopladores de la AACM, ni tampoco nadie perteneciente a la interesante escena que ha surgido en esa ciudad a partir de la década de los noventa del pasado siglo. Quienes sí están son músicos como Eddie Harris, Sonny Stitt (que sin ser oriundo de esta ciudad pasó largas temporadas en la década de los cincuenta junto a Gene Ammons), Johnny Griffin o Von Freeman.
Participan en esta grabación el pianista Harold Mabern (con quien el titular estudió), su colega desde tiempos del instituto el baterista Joe Farnsworth, y el contrabajista John Webber. Un grupo de músicos que tiene una relación musical que se extiende a lo largo de varias grabaciones. El quinto pasajero es el trompetista Jeremy Pelt, que participa en tres temas.
El repertorio está compuesto por temas de Eric Alexander, Harold Mabern y unos clásicos más (“Just One Of Those Things”) o menos (“Save Your Love For Me”, “You Talk That Talk”, “Don’t Take Your Love From Me”) conocidos. La mejor manera de tratar ese sonido que retrotrae a la década de los cincuenta y sesenta, a la época gloriosa de un sello como Blue Note, fue contar con la participación de Rudy van Gelder en los mandos de la grabación, por supuesto en los estudios de Englewood Cliffs. Al estilo clásico, según se indica en las notas del CD, todos los temas publicados son o bien tomas únicas, o las primeras tomas.
No debe extrañar por tanto que el resultado es magnífico homenaje a Chicago y a una manera de entender el jazz muy concreta, en manos de un cuarteto/quinteto que no tiene ningún prejuicio en reivindicar y continuar con parte de la tradición jazzística de esta ciudad. - Pachi Tapiz
Tracks
01. Save Your Love For Me (W. Johnson)
02. The Bee Hive (H. Mabern)
03. Eddie Harris (E. Alexander)
04. Just One of Those Things (C. Porter)
05. Blueski for Vonski (E. Alexander)
06. Mr. Stitt (H. Mabern)
07. You Talk That Talk (L.Spencer)
08. Don't Take Your Love From Me (H. Nemo)
ERIC ALEXANDER tenor sax
JEREMY PELT trumpet
HAROLD MABERN piano
JOHN WEBBER bass
JOE FARNSWORTH drums
Recorded November 26, 2013 at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
HighNote Records, Inc. – HCD 7262