Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Paul Vornhagen: Live at the Blue LLama

Paul Vornhagen: Live at the Blue LLama

By Jack Bowers
May 19, 2025
View read count

Saxophonist and composer

Paul Vornhagen

saxophone
b.1950

" data-original-title="" title="">Paul Vornhagen, a durable pillar on Detroit's jazz scene for almost three decades, puts his working quartet straight to work on this inspiring concert date, recorded in November 2023 at the Blue Llama Jazz Club in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The group's precision and empathy are clear from the outset, as pianist

Pat Cronley

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Pat Cronley, bassist

Patrick Prouty

bass
b.1972

" data-original-title="" title="">Patrick Prouty and drummer

Larry Ochiltree

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Larry Ochiltree put their heads and hands together to lend Vornhagen unwavering support on every number, from the bright and charming "Bernie's Tune" to the last phrase of the leader's charismatic "La Noche." As for Vornhagen, he supplants his expressive and muscular tenor saxophone with a sensuous flute on three numbers, plays soprano sax on his high-spirited "Cozy Does It," and appends sincere albeit unsteady vocals to a trio of well-known standards: Jerome Kern/Ira Gershwin's "Long Ago and Far Away,"

Duke Ellington

piano
1899 - 1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Duke Ellington's "Do Nothin' Til You Hear from Me" and Cole Porter's "Night and Day" (on which he also plays soprano).

Besides leading the group's melodic and metric charge, Vornhagen wrote five of the album's eleven engaging themes and arranged everything. And while he is of course the album's primary voice and improviser, Cronley solos often and well, reinforcing every statement with plausibility and perception, while Prouty and Ochiltree keep the rhythmic fire burning on high. Bernie Miller's "Bernie's Tune," first recorded in the early 1950s by

Gerry Mulligan

saxophone, baritone
1927 - 1996

" data-original-title="" title="">Gerry Mulligan and

Chet Baker

trumpet and vocals
1929 - 1988

" data-original-title="" title="">Chet Baker's pianoless quartet, is a near-perfect opener, neatly setting the stage for Vornhagen's delicious "Montuno Salad" (on flute) and his first vocal, on "Long Ago and Far Away."

Two more Vornhagen originals, "Elephants" and "Hey Pops," lead to "Do Nothin'" and

Juan Tizol

trombone
1900 - 1984

" data-original-title="" title="">Juan Tizol's well-traveled "Caravan," followed by "Cozy Does It,"

Steve Allen

composer / conductor
1921 - 2000

" data-original-title="" title="">Steve Allen and

Ray Brown

bass, acoustic
1926 - 2002

" data-original-title="" title="">Ray Brown's tantalizing "Gravy Waltz," "Night and Day" and the upbeat finale, "La Noche," which places an indelible exclamation mark on a radiant and colorful concert date, seventy-four minutes long, few if any of which are misspent.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Bernie's Tune; Montuno Salad; Long Ago and Far Away; Elephants; Hey Pops; Do Nothin Til You Hear From Me; Caravan; Cozy Does It; Gravy Waltz; Night and Day; La Noche.

Personnel

Paul Vornhagen

saxophone

Pat Cronley

piano

Pat Prouty

bass, electric

Larry Ochiltree

drums

Patrick Prouty

bass

Album information

Title: Live at the Blue LLama | Year Released: 2025 | Record Label: Global Pulse Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Oavette LP
< Previous

Celebrate Mothers Day with new relea...
Next >

Paul Vornhagen Concerts

Sep 13 Sat

Tumbao Bravo W/paul Vornhagen

Rancho Tranquilico
Dexter, MI

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.