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Tim Lin: Empathy

By Jack Bowers
July 2, 2023
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Saxophonist

Tim Lin

saxophone, tenor

" data-original-title="" title="">Tim Lin, still fresh enough on the scene to be described as a "young lion," tips his horn to a number of his mentors on Empathy, his second album as a leader, following 2021's Romance on Formosa. As on that earlier album, Lin, a first generation Taiwanese-American (from Fremont, CA), has chosen a charming blend of standards and jazz staples to complement a lone original composition, "Fourth Right," by the superb pianist

Andy LaVerne

piano
b.1947

" data-original-title="" title="">Andy LaVerne. And as before, Lin plays tenor most of the way, moving to soprano on two of nine numbers.

Hank Mobley

saxophone, tenor
1930 - 1986

" data-original-title="" title="">Hank Mobley is cited as an influence on the sunny opener, "If I Should Lose You," Lin's former teacher

Jerry Bergonzi

saxophone, tenor
b.1947

" data-original-title="" title="">Jerry Bergonzi as a guiding hand behind "Table Steaks," which Bergonzi wrote as a salute to

Benny Golson

saxophone, tenor
1929 - 2024

" data-original-title="" title="">Benny Golson's "Stablemates." Lin follows "Steaks" with a lovely rendition of the ballad "Namely You," written by Johnny Mercer and Gene DePaul for the Broadway musical Li'l Abner, and LaVerne's earnest "Fourth Right," on which he switches to soprano, as he does on a slower-than-usual reading of

Herbie Hancock

piano
b.1940

" data-original-title="" title="">Herbie Hancock's sensuous "Dolphin Dance."

Lin is seductive on

Bill Evans

piano
1929 - 1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Evans' oft-recorded "Waltz for Debby," sharp and plain-spoken on the closing numbers, Harry Warren/Mack Gordon's enchanting "I Wish I Knew" and Kurt Weill/Ogden Nash's beguiling "Speak Low," again from Broadway (1943's One Touch of Venus). LaVerne takes the opening solos on "Table Steaks," "Waltz for Debby" and "I Wish I Knew," showing there (as elsewhere) why he is such a sought-after teammate, one who has no less than sixty albums as leader under his belt. Meanwhile, bassist

Jay Anderson

bass
b.1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Jay Anderson and drummer

Billy Drummond

drums
b.1959

" data-original-title="" title="">Billy Drummond do what they do best, which is keeping the rhythm steady and tight.

While a number of Lin's influences are named including

Bob Sheppard

saxophone, tenor
b.1952

" data-original-title="" title="">Bob Sheppard (who produced both of Lin's albums),

Bob Mintzer

saxophone
b.1953

" data-original-title="" title="">Bob Mintzer,

Steve Grossman

saxophone
1951 - 2020

" data-original-title="" title="">Steve Grossman,

Michael Brecker

saxophone, tenor
1949 - 2007

" data-original-title="" title="">Michael Brecker and

Larry Schneider

" data-original-title="" title="">Larry Schneider, it's not hard to name some others to whom Lin has more than likely listened and learned, among them

Eric Alexander

saxophone, tenor
b.1968

" data-original-title="" title="">Eric Alexander,

Don Menza

saxophone
b.1936

" data-original-title="" title="">Don Menza,

Ralph Moore

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Ralph Moore and the late

Mark Colby

saxophone
1949 - 2020

" data-original-title="" title="">Mark Colby. Even so, Lin has developed an impressive voice of his own, one that comes to the fore more often than not on Empathy and is well worth hearing.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

If I Should Lose You; Table Steaks; Namely You; Fourth Right; Waltz for Debby; Dolphin Dance; I Wish I Knew; Speak Low.

Personnel

Tim Lin

saxophone, tenor

Andy LaVerne

piano

Jay Anderson

bass

Billy Drummond

drums

Album information

Title: Empathy | Year Released: 2023 | Record Label: Self Produced

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