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Fraser Smith Quartet – Tip High!
(Ubuntu music. Album Evaluation by Len Weinreich.)
In a far-off time when giants strode the earth, tenor saxophonists had to decide on which gods to observe: Coleman Hawkins (wealthy, strong and assured) versus Lester Younger (ethereal, floating and lyrical) till Charlie ‘Yardbird’ Parker, an alto participant, synthesised their finest concepts and helped invent a brand new cult referred to as ‘bebop’.
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Bebop produced a contemporary era of tenor masters like Dexter Gordon, Illinois Jacquet, Stanley Turrentine, Al Cohen and Wardell Grey. And so they, in flip, influenced tenor saxophonist Fraser Smith. In brief, the chief on this album had his type, sound and angle sculpted by a world that preceded St John Coltrane.
His new album, Tip High! shows his expertise for concepts (he composed all of the tracks apart from the Columbo, Gaskill and Robin commonplace, ‘Prisoner Of Love’) and received my toes tapping.
‘May Not’ is a spirited starter, medium quick and so full of roadhouse blues slurs and inflections, you would nearly swear there was a Hammond B3 lurking close by (there ain’t). Smith circulates vigorous observations supported by a very dedicated rhythm part. On the keyboard, Rob Barron comps and solos just like the star he’s. Simon Learn’s bass intonation is spot on. Along with drummer Steve Brown, their pulse gives drive and power on each observe.
‘Iroquois’’ is a newly-minted melody line perched on the harmonic framework of Ray Noble’s ‘Cherokee’ (scarily unattainable till Chicken first confirmed the way in which with ‘KoKo’ in 1945). The construction may be difficult, however Smith accomplishes all with a laidback swagger. Pay particular consideration to Rob Barron who has contemporary issues to say. Good unison end.
‘Tip High!’, the title observe (why the screamer?) sits atop ‘I Acquired Rhythm’s chords with an injection of ‘Honeysuckle Rose’ within the bridge (Parker’s ‘Scrapple From The Apple’ is the exact reverse). Barron, on type, throws in a witty quote from Wardell Grey’s ‘Twisted’, yet one more variation on ‘I Acquired Rhythm’ modifications. Learn’s bass may present the muse for a skyscraper.
Ratcheting up the tempo over a Latin beat, ‘Whaddya Know’ borrows its harmonies from Dizzy Gillespie’s 1942 ‘Woody’n You’, written for Woody Herman’s band. The group dynamic is superb, 4 musicians sounding as in the event that they’d been a decent unit endlessly.
‘Prisoner Of Love’ a music constructed of descending phrases, may very well be Smith’s passionate hommage to Coleman Hawkins, father of the jazz tenor saxophone. Taken at stately tempo, it permits ample area for Simon Learn and Rob Barron to increase their concepts.
Whereas I battle to attach ‘Pip’ (from Dickens’ Nice Expectations) with a cool boogaloo beat, the quartet returns to the boozy roadhouse gig with breathy tenor, piano, bass and drums in a late evening groove with doable erotic overtones.
‘Wardell’, is a lilting 12-bar blues tribute to the late Wardell Grey, who tragically met a dreadful (and mysterious) finish in Las Vegas, the place his physique was dumped in a parking lot. When Grey and Dexter Gordon had been sidemen in Billy Eckstine’s band, they fought heroic tenor battles that ignited the second balcony. Grey is certainly one of this reviewer’s favorite tenor gamers (hearken to ‘Twisted’ and ‘Little Pony’ with Depend Basie). By no means a carbon copy (or, in Lester’s phrase: “a repeater pencil”), he refashioned Lester Younger’s levitational strategy into bebop mode. ‘Wardell’ is filled with advantageous blues statements from Smith and Barron.
‘Out Into The Daylight’ (attempt buzzing Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields’ ‘The Approach You Look Tonight’ together with Smith’s contrafact melody) is an up-tempo romp with the odd Monkian dissonance. Smith strikes round his tenor at a formidable lick and, in direction of the top, provides drummer Steve Brown some cracking breaks.
‘Bluey’ is, as you may need guessed, a medium tempo 12-bar earthy riff hinting maybe at misplaced love or disappointment. And, whereas it’s debatable that each blues performed by a jazz musician is an extra autobiographical chapter, Smith sounds nothing however optimistic. Barron digs into the keyboard accompanied by animated rimshots and durable bass work.
Lastly, ‘Snow Off Broadway’ is Smith’s sprightly impression recalling a second sitting in a comfortable Manhattan bar observing a blizzard in motion. Having as soon as noticed the devastating fury of Manhattan blizzard myself, I’m at a loss to clarify the samba rhythm, higher suited to the sunburnt Brazilian seaside. Anyway, there’s loads of muscular tenor.
Fittingly, the album was recorded within the antediluvian analogue method on magnetic tape at Durham Sound Studios in Camden, London and the sound, combined by Lewis Durham and Fraser Smith is crystalline. Wonderful album. Tip high everybody.
Fraser Smith, tenor saxophone; Rob Barron, piano; Simon Learn, bass; Steve Brown, drums. Recorded at Durham Sound Studios, Camden, London, 28 February, 2022.
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