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Ryan Middagh Jazz Orchestra: Tenor Madness
by Jack Bowers
Nashville-based composer, arranger and saxophonist Ryan Middagh salutes apostles of the mid-range wind instrument on Tenor Madness, his second recording as leader of the Ryan Middagh Jazz Orchestra. Even so, there are no tenor solos after the first three of the album's half-dozen numbers, on which tenors Don Aliquo and Jeff Coffin ("Wiley Roots"), Aliquo again ("Waiter, Make Mine Blues"), Coffin and New York luminary Joel Frahm--who together galvanize the album's robust title song--are featured. While the ...
Continue ReadingAlex Graham: The Good Life
by Dan McClenaghan
A quick trip to multiple reedman Alex Graham's web site finds his sound compared to Wayne Shorter, Dexter Gordon, and Horace Silver, but a couple of spins of The Good Life tells you that these reactions must be referring to the band's collective sound. Graham plays alto sax, flute, and clarinet--the latter two reeds on the opener only--but he's an alto saxophonist first and foremost on this outing. His tone on that main horn sounds like Jackie McLean's to me--tart ...
Continue ReadingAlex Graham: The Good Life
by Jack Bowers
I can never understand why, on so many albums these days, the leading accompanist--in this case pianist Rick Roe--is pushed so far forward in the mix that one's ears are irresistibly drawn to him rather than to the soloist he is supposedly backing. Roe is an able accompanist; no argument there. But when his every note overshadows leader Alex Graham, the recording becomes his by default, thus subverting its basic purpose, which is to showcase Graham, even though he's doing ...
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