Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Alex Heffron: Looking Out

Alex Heffron: Looking Out

By Hrayr Attarian
July 6, 2021
View read count

Based in Denver, Colorado, Alex Heffron is an imaginative guitarist and intelligent composer. His debut, the engaging Looking Out, demonstrates these talents amply. On it, Heffron leads a sextet consisting of like-minded musicians through an intriguing set of eight of his originals with elegant confidence and simmering passion.

The title track opens the album with a charmingly effervescent mood. Over infectious rhythmic vamps, the frontline play the main theme with vibrant and muscular refrains. Heffron takes center stage with a laid back improvisation which nevertheless crackles with energy. Saxophonist

Daryl Gott

saxophone, alto
b.1987

" data-original-title="" title="">Daryl Gott follows with brassy swagger and reverberating notes. Gott's and trumpeter

Jonathan Saraga

trumpet
b.1987

" data-original-title="" title="">Jonathan Saraga's whimsical sparring marks the closing head.

Saraga extemporizes with agility and verve as he lets loose warm, burnished tones on the captivating "Ennui." An expansive piece with eastern motifs which enhance its mellifluous poetry, it showcases bassist

Dan Montgomery

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Dan Montgomery's eloquence and lyricism. Heffron embellishes the main melody with darkly moving and soulful lines. The band's dramatic ensemble sound ushers in the quasi-symphonic conclusion.

The ambience changes on the delightfully intimate "Home," a haunting duet with pianist

Walter Gorra

piano
b.1993

" data-original-title="" title="">Walter Gorra. Heffron and Gorra echo one another with undulating chords and lilting phrases. Heffron's strings shimmer with bluesy hints as Gorra's keys chime and echo with pastel hues. The fluid dialogue is laden with hints of melancholy and nostalgia, and is a subtly romantic "palate cleanser" before the two dramatic final tunes.

Intricately constructed with an expectant atmosphere, "Afterlight" has at its core the pulsatile drive of drummer

Braxton Kahn

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Braxton Kahn's restless beats; it also showcases Heffron's skills as a bandleader as he carefully layers individual expressions of his sidemen for a poignant and thrilling group performance.

More languid, yet no less stimulating, is "A New Era," a nocturnesque and orchestral composition highlighted by a darkly rumbling cadence and booming horns. Here, Heffron lets loose a dynamic and inventive soliloquy which is virtuosic without being flamboyant. Gott's sinewy and elastic alto burns a spontaneous path through the band's spirited interpretation.

Looking Out is a cohesive work, thoughtful and quite enjoyable. Although not ground-breaking, Heffron's first release as a leader is refreshingly personal and quite sophisticated. It is an auspicious start to a promising career.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Looking Out; Days to Refine; Sneffles; Ennui; Getting the Heart back; Home; Afterlight; A New Era.

Personnel

Alex Heffron

guitar

Jonathan Saraga

trumpet

Daryl Gott

saxophone, alto

Walter Gorra

piano

Dan Montgomery

bass

Braxton Kahn

drums

Album information

Title: Looking Out | Year Released: 2021 | Record Label: Self Produced

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Colin Stetson, Ches Smith, Marisa Mo...
< Previous

Cremona Jazz Festival 2021
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.