Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Wayne Escoffery: Uptown

Wayne Escoffery: Uptown

By Joel Roberts
December 6, 2009
View read count

On Uptown, his fifth album as a leader, the impressive 34-year-old tenor saxophonist {Wayne Escoffery employs an old-fashioned soul jazz lineup of sax, Hammond B-3 organ, electric guitar and drums. But don't expect to hear the sort of bluesy "uptown" jams associated with classic soul jazz tenors like

Gene Ammons

saxophone, tenor
1925 - 1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Gene Ammons,

Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis

saxophone, tenor
1922 - 1986

" data-original-title="" title="">Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis or

Stanley Turrentine

saxophone, tenor
1934 - 2000

" data-original-title="" title="">Stanley Turrentine. While he's a hard-swinging tenor with a big, warm tone, Escoffery's passion, expressiveness and long, flowing solos, as well as his thoughtful, forward-thinking compositions, place him more in the tradition of progressive post-bop tenors like

Wayne Shorter

saxophone
1933 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Wayne Shorter and

Joe Henderson

saxophone
1937 - 2001

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Henderson.

A former student of the late, great alto saxophonist

Jackie McLean

saxophone, alto
1932 - 2006

" data-original-title="" title="">Jackie McLean, the London-born, Connecticut-raised Escoffery is perhaps best known for his key (and ongoing) role in trumpeter

Tom Harrell

trumpet
b.1946

" data-original-title="" title="">Tom Harrell's highly regarded quintet. Since moving to New York nearly a decade ago, he's also held down important sideman jobs with

Ben Riley

drums
1933 - 2017

" data-original-title="" title="">Ben Riley's Monk Legacy project,

Mingus Big Band

band / ensemble / orchestra

" data-original-title="" title="">Mingus Big Band,

Eric Reed

piano
b.1970

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

Abdullah Ibrahim

piano
b.1934

" data-original-title="" title="">Abdullah Ibrahim and others. Here, he's joined by an energetic and cohesive group of contemporaries including his main foil, Israeli guitarist

Avi Rothbard

guitar

" data-original-title="" title="">Avi Rothbard, omnipresent organist

Gary Versace

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Gary Versace and the talented young drummer

Jason Brown

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Jason Brown.

The set opens strongly with Rothbard's hard-driving "No Desert," followed by an unusually upbeat take on

Duke Ellington

piano
1899 - 1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Duke Ellington's "I Got It Bad" and another forceful tune from Rothbard, "Cross Bronx." The most inspired track is Escoffery's exploratory "Gulf of Aqaba," with its chant-like refrain and Middle Eastern flourishes. Here, as on several other tunes, McLean's inspiration is apparent in Escoffery's slightly sharp harmonies and his ability to combine mainstream, bop-oriented playing with more outside influences. The album's closing number, Escoffery's "Easy Now," is an easy, loping blues that's the group's most straight-ahead effort at capturing a vintage uptown vibe.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

No Desert; I Got It Bad; Cross Bronx; You Know I Care; Road from Eilat; Gulf of Aqaba; Nu Soul; Maya's Waltz; Easy Now.

Personnel

Wayne Escoffery

saxophone, tenor

Wayne Escoffery: tenor sax; Avi Rothbard: guitar; Gary Vesace: organ; Jason Brown: drums.

Album information

Title: Uptown | Year Released: 2009 | Record Label: Posi-Tone Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Chano Dominguez Quinteto Flamenco at...
< Previous

Declaration
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.