Al Muirhead Quintet -Live from Frankie's & The Yardbird

Al Muirhead Quintet -Live from Frankie's & The Yardbird - Chronograph Records

This album captures Canadian trumpeter Al Muirhead in two performances from a 2018 Canadian Jazz Festival tour. Muirhead, whose career spans eight decades (he first recorded in 1953), leads a top-flight quintet on these recordings. Common to both performances are Muirhead on bass trumpet and trumpet, Kelly Jefferson on Tenor Saxophone, and Neil Swainson on bass. Guitarists Reg Schwager and Jim Head, and drummers Jesse Cahill and Ted Warren round up the players on performances from Yardbird Suite in Edmonton, Alberta, and Frankie's Jazz Club in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Before the tour, a setlist of jazz standards was provided for the improvisations. Muirhead writes, "What you are about to hear is not your usual slick, well-rehearsed, beautifully arranged recording. It is music being performed by a group of musicians, some meeting for the first time on the bandstand, playing the music they love. It is raw, spontaneous, and more importantly, it is real. Musicians working together, knowing their roles, their functions, listening to one another to make music." 

Muirhead's is heard primarily on bass trumpet, which one might mistake for a trombone. He and Jefferson are terrific on Sonny Rollins' "Tenor Madness," on which everyone solos. Different performances of the jazz classic open and close this album. Muirhead exhibits a definite warmth and somewhat wooly texture to his sound on the classic ballad "Emily." At the same time, he certainly can build heat playing bass trumpet as he exhibits on Clifford Brown's "Joy Spring." Jefferson impressed this listener throughout with his full-bodied tone, fluid playing, and imaginative, lyrical improvisations. His open trumpet playing is stellar on "Mona Lisa." Guitarist Head shines with his fleet playing on "Emily," while guitarist Schwager dazzles on "Joy Spring."

Listeners will find plenty of heat and heart in this album." Live from Frankie's & The Yardbird" brings together some first-rate, straight-ahead bop and swing characterized by a top-notch ensemble playing and outstanding soloists.

I received a download to review from a publicist. Here is a short soundcheck of "Emily."