One For All: Live at Smoke Vol.1

Aside from the musical fireworks that make the enclosed sides noteworthy, there are additional factors that mark Live at Smoke as a major event. For one thing, this "on location" recording is one of the rare live dates to grace the Criss Cross catalog. Furthermore, it serves as a perfect summation up to this point of One For All's musical fortunes as heard in the same venue that fostered the ensemble's very formation. Back in the mid-'80s, drummer Joe Farnsworth, while a student at William Patterson College, had the singular responsibility of organizing the weekend sets for a small New York club called Augie's. Fellow Patterson colleague Eric Alexander would eventually take part in that scene, as would Jim Rotondi. By 1995, David Hazeltine, Steve Davis, and Peter Washington were in place for the formation of One For All, a collective of individualists who despite active schedules as leaders and sidemen come together regularly to engage in this creative endeavor.

While the albums Too Soon To Tell and Optimism brought the group's music to a worldwide audience, Augie's fortunes were on the decline, with the venue eventually closing in the summer of 1998. Some ten months later, the club site located in Uptown Manhattan went through a metamorphosis and reopened as Smoke. Carrying on a twenty-year tradition of jazz at the corner of Broadway and 106th, Smoke immediately received a healthy share of accolades including "best jazz club in the world," as legendary pianist Harold Mabern has touted it. An intimate setting that sports a mere 70 seats also boasts fabulous acoustics that make it one of Hazeltine's favorite places for live performance.

While Smoke has continued to build on its solid reputation as part of New York's jazz community, so too have the individual talents that constitute One For All. Tenor man Eric Alexander, trumpeter Jim Rotondi, trombonist Steve Davis and pianist David Hazeltine are all Criss Cross regulars who have duly impressed listeners with their thoughtful styles and a mainstream manifesto that contains ample proof that working within the tradition need not be equated with trite replication. As for bassist Peter Washington and drummer Joe Farnsworth, the two have coalesced into a unit that breaths as one and will undoubtedly be considered some day among such illustrious rhythm sections as Jones and Hayes, Chambers and Cobb, or Garrison and Jones. A follow-up to Upward and Onward (Criss 1172) and The Long Haul (Criss 1193), Live at Smoke serves as the collective's third session for Criss Cross.

Eric Alexander's "The Second Milestone" starts things off on a boisterous note. The horns provide an opening fanfare before settling into the main theme, a sixteen bar form which is repeated twice. Solo space is reserved for all, save Washington and Farnsworth. Alexander's spot finds him exploring the upper stratosphere, with Rotondi emitting wild bursts of notes in a combustible manner. Following statements from Davis and Hazeltine, supported nicely by some contrasting horn lines, the head returns for a reprise.

While the Stylistics may have put "Betcha By Golly Wow" on the charts in 1972, it was David Hazeltine who really tapped the tune's creative possibilities with a revamp that appeared on One For All's debut recording. Stretching out at length, the horns and our arranger get ample space to speak their piece. Rotondi offers up a pleasant surprise early on in his solo by treading behind the beat, the rhythmic support fixed in suspended animation.

Under a four-note bass riff, the Eastern-flavored melody of Steve Davis' "Poem For J.J." rides on a placid bossa groove. The resourceful chart serves mainly as a feature for Davis (who graces us with two winning testimonials) and Hazeltine, some resonant horn lines also included as part of the landscape.

Jim Rotondi's "Too Soon To Tell" is taken at a faster tempo than the one utilized for the piece's original incarnation. The tune's optimistic head brings out the best in everyone, with Rotondi, Alexander, Davis, and Hazeltine taking solos in that order.

The set's ballad feature, "Dedicated To You," finds Alexander caressing the melody, with Rotondi and Davis sharing the bridge. The tempo doubles for a round of solos, Alexander followed by Rotondi and Hazeltine. Then our tenor man delivers a brief, but effective cadenza prior to the final bars.

Another heady Davis original, "The Lonely Ones" takes as its pedigree the archetypal sound of Art Blakey and the Messengers. First heard on John Swana's In the Moment (Criss 1119), this strident shuffle brings on rousing testimony from Alexander, Rotondi, and the composer himself.

A real flag waver that regularly serves as one of the band's closing numbers, David Hazeltine's "We All Love Eddie Harris" is briefly heard before Rotondi introduces the members of the band. Alexander then bandies about fragments of "Freedom Jazz Dance" just before a final statement of the head and a closing fanfare.

Providing an uncommon recital for an audience outside the confines of New York City, One For All's appearance at the 2000 Ford Detroit International Jazz Festival impressed not only those in attendance, but scores of listeners catching the live NPR broadcast. Now, Live at Smoke should allow an international audience the opportunity to experience this first class ensemble in its most natural environment.

Liner Notes copyright © 2024 C. Andrew Hovan.

Live at Smoke- Volume 1 can be purchased here.

Contact C. Andrew Hovan at All About Jazz.
An avid audiophile and music collector, Chris Hovan is a Cleveland-based writer / photographer / musician.

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