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Joe Fonda: Eyes On The Horizon

By Mike Jurkovic
December 14, 2024
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As we enter into the season of giving, what better gift can there be than Eyes on the Horizon, bassist/composer

Joe Fonda

bass
b.1954

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Fonda's sonic tribute to his mentor, muse, and like-minded creator, trumpeter

" data-original-title="" title="">Wadada Leo Smith.

As if welcoming one to a grand destination, Smith's clear and majestic timbre, supported by Fonda's pronounced bowing, proclaims "Inspiration Opus #1" into consciousness and Eyes on the Horizon sets out on a path all its own. More than just head-solo-head, Fonda employs what he has gleaned from Smith over the decades and parlays the improvisatory nature of his compositions into free jazz of the highest order. Frequent Fonda collaborators drummer

Tiziano Tononi

drums
b.1956

" data-original-title="" title="">Tiziano Tononi (

Barre Phillips

bass
b.1934

" data-original-title="" title="">Barre Phillips,?

Dewey Redman

saxophone, tenor
b.1931

" data-original-title="" title="">Dewey Redman) and pianist

Satoko Fujii

piano
b.1958

" data-original-title="" title="">Satoko Fujii round out the bassist's latest collective of creative visionaries. With its structured string of solos and duets, "My Song Opus #2" echoes but never imitates or looks back on "Inspiration Opus #1." Fonda (

Anthony Braxton

woodwinds
b.1945

" data-original-title="" title="">Anthony Braxton,

Marilyn Crispell

piano
b.1947

" data-original-title="" title="">Marilyn Crispell,

Barry Altschul

drums
b.1943

" data-original-title="" title="">Barry Altschul) gives Smith all the open space he needs to reach his expressive and spiritual self. Commemorating the first time the bassist and trumpeter met at the founding of the Smith co-directed Creative Music Improvisors Forum, "We Need Members" opens with an energetic conversation between piano and bass, emulating perhaps what Fonda recalls as a grilling from CMIF co-founder, vibraphonist/pianist

Bobby Naughton

vibraphone
b.1944

" data-original-title="" title="">Bobby Naughton. Tononi drops into the bassist's deep rhythmic pull as Smith welcomes Fonda into the club. As if to confirm Smith's belief in Fonda's abilities and intentions, the bassist's active solo from the seven-and-a-half-minute mark acts in part as a career-defining resume.

Smith and Fonda duet in remembrance of Naughton on the bright yet moody "Like No Other." Like its charismatic title subject, "Listen to Dr. Cornell West" charges into the room on the rolling clamor of Tononi and Fonda before Smith and Fujii join the surge, and Smith breaks free to declare and annunciate the calls for sanity and unity that the good Dr. West is known for worldwide. The closing valedictory "Bright Lights" (wherein trumpeter and drummer work in near total lyrical conjunction) and the inspired, Fujii-fueled title track close out another high-water mark in the vast and defiant Fonda discography, alongside such deep gems as Dreamstruck (Not Two Records, 2018), the daring Distance (Leo Records, 2001) and Full Circle Suite (CIMP, 1999).

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Track Listing

Inspiration Opus #1 (For Wadada Leo Smith); My Song Opus #2; We Need Members Opus #4 (For Wadada Leo Smith); Like No Other (For Bobby Naughton); Listen to Dr. Cornell West; Bright Light Opus #5 (For Wadada Leo Smith); Eyes on the Horizon Opus #3 (For Wadada Leo Smith).

Personnel

Joe Fonda

bass

Wadada Leo Smith

trumpet

Satoko Fujii

piano

Tiziano Tononi

drums

Additional Instrumentation

Joe Fonda: flute.

Album information

Title: Eyes on the Horizon | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: Long Song Records

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