Jeff Rupert - George Garzone The Ripple

Jeff Rupert - George Garzone
The Ripple
Rupe Media

"The Ripple," the title of the new CD by tenor saxophonists Jeff Rupert and George Garzone, refers "to the far-reaching effect of Lester Young's voice in music." Rupert is the director of The Flying Horse Band out of the University of Central Florida's Jazz Program. Besides being a master of the tenor saxophone, Garzone is a revered educator, with noted students including Joshua Redman, Branford Marsalis, and Donny McCaslin. Besides being educators, they are both superior tenor saxophonists. Backing them is a first-rate rhythm section of Richard Drexler on piano, Jeremy Allen on bass, and Marty Morrell on drums, all of whom have a lengthy association with Rupert.

There are no compositions by Young, or songs recorded by him, on this album. Instead, it features pieces recorded or composed by some of the musicians influenced by Young, including Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Eddie Harris, Zoot Sims, Wayne Shorter, and Joe Henderson. Of course, tenor sax pairings go back to the Basie days, and in recent years we have been graced with the likes of Johnny Griffin and Lockjaw Davis, Dexter Gordon and Gene Ammons, and Al Cohn and Zoot Sims. Rupert and Garzone are another stellar tenor sax pairing.

The music on this recording is exquisite starting with a marvelous bossa nova "Bahia" first recorded by Stan Getz, and if both display ties to Lester Young's Legacy, they each have their own voice. Rupert perhaps employs a slightly more legato approach, while Garzone's attack at times shows his incorporation of aspects of the styles of Coltrane and Rollins. This is most obvious on Garzone's startling opening to "Stardust." Rupert's original, "GO-GO," is a brisk swinging number that derives from a Lockjaw Davis tune. Other highlights of this recording include a terrific rendition of "Without a Song"; the relaxed swing of "The Red Door" from Gerry Mulligan and Zoot Sims; a relaxed take of Lionel Hampton's "Red Top" that opens with the rhythm section quoting Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage"; and the inspired "Hoboken," a contrafact derived from Monk's "Hackensack."

After a spirited "Lester Left Town," this recording closes with an unaccompanied duet by the two, "Alone Together." Rupert and Garzone are superb saxophonists playing some marvelous songs and backed by a first-rate rhythm section. The result is this extraordinary recording.

I received a review copy from a publicist. Here is a video of Jeff Rupert performing with a quartet including Richard Drexler and Marty Morell.

3 Nights in LA with George Garzone, Peter Erskine, Alan Pasqua, and Darek Oles

George Garzone, Peter Erskine, Alan Pasqua, and Darek Oles
3 Nights in LA
Fuzzy Music

"3 Nights in LA" documents a January 2019 performance at a new Los Angeles club, Sam First. Peter Erskine took to the bandstand with pianist Alan Pasqua and bassist Darek Oles, his fellow faculty members at University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music joined by tenor saxophone player George Garzone, in town to teach a master class, for three nights, two sets a night. The result is this three-disc release, with each disc representing a different night with a total of 20 tracks and over three hours of music.

Erskine is likely the best known of these players from his time with Weather Report as well as playing with the likes of Steps Ahead, John Abercrombie, Kenny Wheeler, and Marc Johnson. Pianist Pasqua, a veteran of the New Tony Williams Lifetime and Allan Holdsworth, and bassist Oles, one of the most sought after bassists on the West Coast, have been playing with Erskine for over a decade. Tenor saxophonist Garzone, besides being a formidable master of the saxophone is a revered educator, with noted students including Joshua Redman, Branford Marsalis, and Donny McCaslin. Garzone first played with Erskine in 1998, an experience that left a deep impression and they have crossed paths several times since.

Those three nights in January produced some superb music. Erskine and his trio would be delightful to hear by themselves, but add Garzone's tenor saxophone, and the music is excellent in the vein of the classic John Coltrane Quartet as well as the '70s and '80s music of Dexter Gordon and Art Pepper. One may hear elements of Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin, Hank Crawford and others in Garzone's full-toned, robust playing. The Coltrane tone may be most evident on the excellent rendition of the blues, "Equinox," the lovely ballad "I Want To Talk About You," but also on Garzone's "Tutti Italiani," where he builds his solo with fire followed by Pasqua's lyrical solo. There are three superb, different interpretations of "Have You Met Miss Jones?" and a rousing rendition of Bronisław Kaper's "Invitation."

There is also Garzone's original "Dedicated to Michael Brecker," which sounds like a contrafact of Lerner and Loewe's "If I Ever Would Leave You" from "Camelot." Garzone is fabulously complemented by Pasqua's rhapsodic solo and the support by Oles and Erskine (who takes a thoughtfully constructed solo here). The remaining music of these discs is also superb making "3 Nights in LA" a terrific release.

I received a download to review from a publicist. There is more on this recording at Peter Erksine's website, https://petererskine.com/featured-album/3-nights-in-la/. Here is a promo video for this recording.

Here is a video from the Sam First engagement.