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Eric Alexander Quartet: The Live at the Keynote
by Ken Dryden
These impressive live sessions by tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, pianist Harold Mabern, bassist Nat Reeves and drummer Joe Farnsworth come from a 1999 gig at the Keynote in Tokyo. Mabern's furious “The Bee Hive, an intense bopper showcasing each musician in turn, packs a powerful punch as an opener. Alexander's subtle handling of the ballad “Maybe September suggests the lyricism of Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster, yet in a distinctive, modern setting. The racehorse tempo chosen for ...
Continue ReadingEric Alexander: It's All In The Game
by Nic Jones
"I'm trying to have the whole horn sing clearly and relatively evenly," Eric Alexander says in a quote in the booklet notes which accompany It's All In The Game. There's ample evidence here of how successful he's been with that aim, but he neglects to mention that allying it with an exceptional level of invention within the idiom of the post bop mainstream makes for the kind of listening that is as much as anything else whatever jazz means in ...
Continue ReadingEric Alexander & Vincent Herring: The Battle - Live at Smoke
by Alain Londes
Without a doubt, Eric Alexander is one of the most hardworking and serious young tenor saxophone players out there. To see him perform live is to witness technical fluency combined with up-tempo and hard boppin' intensity. This recording, taped live at Smoke in New York, finds him joined by the equally talented Vincent Herring on alto sax. The first track sets the stage for the whole session. “Blues Up And Down is the classic stomping blues showcased ...
Continue ReadingAnthony Wonsey: The Thang
by Mark F. Turner
Anthony Wonsey's latest disc finds the pianist coming into his own creative voice. Wonsey has been at the center of some very notable works over the past few years, including recordings by trumpeter Nicholas Payton, songstress Carmen Lundy and others. The Thang, his fifth disc as a leader, continues in the straight-ahead format of his label, Sharp Nine Records. While others artists his age are dabbling in freer modes, make no mistake that Wonsey is a skilled artisan who plays ...
Continue ReadingEric Alexander: Dead Center
by Jack Bowers
Dead Center. What a marvelous title. If young tenor star Eric Alexander isn't “dead center" on his latest album for HighNote Records, it would take an especially sharp-eyed cat with a microscope to notice. Fact is, Alexander has been nailing the target with unerring accuracy for a number of years now, and people are starting to take heed. Not that it makes much difference to Alexander, a throwback to an earlier time when jazz musicians, eager to learn from any ...
Continue ReadingEric Alexander: Dead Center
by John Kelman
Some albums take days, weeks, even months to record, and even then don't capture the essence of the artist. Not so with Dead Center by tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, who, while still in his mid-30s, is possessed of such self-assurance and pure intent that one day is all it takes to lay down and preserve everything that he is about. And while contemporaries like Joshua Redman and Chris Potter, fine players both, look for ways to push the tradition forward, ...
Continue ReadingEric Alexander: Gentle Ballads
by Dr. Judith Schlesinger
This CD offers classic fare from a well-oiled quartet. It's a satisfying sampler of tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander's strong, burnished-copper tone, which is nicely balanced by pianist Mike LeDonne's elegant filigree. In a recent Downbeat interview, Alexander named Coleman Hawkins as a major influence because “he just puts the information on the plate, and more power to you if you can figure it out and make use of it for yourself." Alexander has a similar directness; even when he's blowing ...
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