Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Rob Reddy: Bechet: Our Contemporary

Rob Reddy: Bechet: Our Contemporary

By Glenn Astarita
September 21, 2015
View read count

Prominent New York City progressive saxophonist and composer, Rob Reddy contemporizes innovative soprano saxophonist Sidney Bechet's artistic persona with his large ensemble, featuring several longtime associates, violinist

Charles Burnham

violin

" data-original-title="" title="">Charles Burnham, bassist Dom Richards and drummer

Pheeroan AkLaff

drums
b.1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Pheeroan AkLaff. Reddy doesn't simply restate the past, but more importantly intertwines the trad jazz component with a scintillating and upbeat commingling of nouveau applications.

Bechet's wide vibrato technique, full-bodied and animated improvisational acumen extended conventional norms into the upper strata during his heyday mainly in the 1940s, despite numerous allusions to his obstinate personality. Yet Reddy whips a majestic, full throttle gala into variegated genres, including jazz rock, avant-garde expressionism and flavorful renditions of Bechet's comps, paired with his self-penned works amid a few sweet-tempered movements.

On the leader's bluesy "Erasing Statues, you can sense a hot and humid day along the Mississippi Delta, spawned by drawling horns and tender niceties. Moreover, the program contains ample doses of rough and tumble progressive jazz arrangements protracted by soaring choruses and sprightly free- jazz treks, occasionally dappled with

Ornette Coleman

saxophone, alto
1930 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Ornette Coleman-isms.

Reddy's horns charts interlink the old and the new whether it's trumpeter

John Carlson

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">John Carlson's muted wah-wah notes locked in with marching band riffs or when he aligns with trombonist

Curtis Fowlkes

trombone
1950 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Curtis Fowlkes for several bars of slurring extended notes, bridged with modern jazz and rock stylizations. On Bechet's "Broken Windmill," the band seamlessly casts a trad jazz two-step with a festive dance motif embossed within twirling horns and Burnham's streaming staccato lines. Here, Aklaff sparks remembrances of early jazz drummers as he launches a lyrical solo while accenting the beat with a cowbell. Taken as a whole, Reddy's nods to Bechet are freshly reimagined and dexterously morphed into modern persuasions on a per-track basis.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Up-South; Petite Fleur; Erasing Statues; Song of the Medina; Yank; Chant in the Night; Speedy Joe; Broken Windmill.

Personnel

Rob Reddy

saxophone

Rob Reddy: soprano saxophone; John Carlson: trumpet; Curtis Fowlkes: trombone; Charles Burnham: violin; Marika Hughes: cello; Marvin Sewell: guitars; Dom Richards: double bass; Pheeroan AkLaff: drums; Lisa Parrott: baritone saxophone (6); Oscar Noriega: clarinet (8).

Album information

Title: Bechet: Our Contemporary | Year Released: 2015 | Record Label: Reddy Music

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Eye of Ra
< Previous

Miles Mosley and the West Coast Get ...
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.