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Keith Oxman: Two Cigarettes In the Dark

By Jack Bowers
April 28, 2020
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What's a sure way to make a pretty good tenor saxophone-led quartet even better? Simple. Invite a second tenor and make sure his name is

Houston Person

saxophone, tenor
b.1934

" data-original-title="" title="">Houston Person. That's what Denver-based

" data-original-title="" title="">Keith Oxman has done to further enhance his quartet's splendid new album, Two Cigarettes in the Dark, sharing the front line with Person on six of the session's ten tracks. To say that Person brightens every number he's on would be understating the case; as the saying goes, he could make a phone book sound interesting.

That's not to say the recording lacks merit in his absence. Oxman is a superb player in his own right, his lighter, post-bop narratives deftly complementing Person's more sonorous, blues-based manifestos. (There's no need for notes to identify who is soloing when.) While Oxman says his mentors include the great

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane, melodically and technically he brings to mind a celebrated contemporary,

Eric Alexander

saxophone, tenor
b.1968

" data-original-title="" title="">Eric Alexander. In terms of excellence, no more need be said. As for Person, now in his mid-eighties, the South Carolinian has been a prominent standard-bearer on the jazz scene for more than half a century and proves here that he has neither lost a step nor skipped a beat.

And then there's that remarkably able rhythm section: not widely known but nonetheless alert, secure and supportive. Pianist

Jeff Jenkins

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Jeff Jenkins comps and solos with aplomb, while bassist

Ken Walker

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Ken Walker and drummer

Paul Romaine

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Paul Romaine set an unerring rhythmic compass, giving Oxman and Person all the support they need. There are two vocals, by Oxman's longtime friend and collaborator

Annette Murrell

vocals

" data-original-title="" title="">Annette Murrell, whose cool, sultry voice adorns the standards "Everything Happens to Me" and "Crazy He Calls Me." Oxman wrote the album's even-tempered finale, "Murrellancholy," as a salute to her balladic artistry. And speaking of writing, Oxman is well above average in that area too. In fact, his three compositions ("Voss Is Boss" and "Murphy's Law Impacts L.E.A.P." are the others), on which his tenor is the only horn, are among the album's highlights, notwithstanding Person's absence.

Elsewhere, Person is very much engaged, starting with the handsome opener, Frank Loesser's "I've Never Been in Love Before" and including

Hank Mobley

saxophone, tenor
1930 - 1986

" data-original-title="" title="">Hank Mobley's unhurried "Bossa for Baby,"

Johnny Griffin

saxophone, tenor
1928 - 2008

" data-original-title="" title="">Johnny Griffin's groovy "Sweet Sucker" (which would have fit quite snugly into a Prestige or Blue Note album from the 1960s, as would Jenkins' funky "Wind Chill") and the debonair title song, which Oxman says is one of the few tunes Person hadn't heard before. Welcome to the club, Houston. And welcome, Keith Oxman and company, to the spacious catalog of well-planned and well-performed mainstream albums by quartet with guest artist. May you find some self-assurance and elbow room there.

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Track Listing

I've Never Been In Love Before; Voss is Boss; Everything Happens to Me; Two Cigarettes In the Dark; Bossa for Baby; Murphy's Law Impacts L.E.A.P.; Crazy He Calls Me; Wind Chill; Sweet Sucker; Murrellancholy.

Personnel

Keith Oxman

saxophone, tenor

Houston Person

saxophone, tenor

Annette Murrell

vocals

Jeff Jenkins

piano

Ken Walker

bass

Paul Romaine

drums

Additional Instrumentation

Keith Oxman

Album information

Title: Two Cigarettes In the Dark | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: Capri Records

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