Branford Marsalis Quartet: Belonging

For his Blue Note debut, saxophonist Branford Marsalis and his long-standing quartet—pianist Joey Calderazzo, bassist Eric Revis and drummer Justin Faulkner—hit the sweet spot again and again and again, reinterpreting and re-imagining Keith Jarrett's epochal 1974 ECM classic, Belonging.

Not only did Jarrett introduce the world to his no-holds-barred fear-no-idea European quartet—saxophonist Jan Garbarek, bassist Palle Danielsson and drummer Jon Christensen—he was also in one of the most creative periods of his decades-long illuminating career. Consider the tense free-wheeling drive of "Spiral Dance" and "The Windup," the airy lyricism of "Blossom" and "Solstice." The bluesy gospel lure of  "Long as You Know You're Living Yours" was so strong that Donald Fagen nicked the tune for the title track of Steely Dan's Gaucho (MCA, 1980). (Jarrett subsequently sued and was added to the songwriting credits.)

Marsalis was totally unaware of Belonging until 1979, but in a validation of the music, it has stayed with him through the years. In 2019, on the acclaimed The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul (Marsalis Music), the quartet delivered a rollicking "The Windup." After listening to the music since then and reacting whole-heartedly to a suggestion by Revis, the quartet decided to have a go at the whole album. We now have Belonging circa 2025, and it is everything the original is and more.

Though the sound does not have that gritty '70s pioneering sound, it does have an immediacy that rivals it, making this Belonging—if not as surprising and groundbreaking as its vaulted ancestor—a hot damn-good time as the quartet breaks out with "Spiral Dance," of course, and the dance floor has never been so jumpy and full of fancy steps. Calderazzo sets the pace. Revis swaggers in with Faulkner biting at the bit behind him. Enter Marsalis and away the track goes. A high-fiving take if ever there was one. "Blossom" captures the original calligraphy, yet its tone is ripe for any time. Revis and Faulkner bring an all-new bump-and-grind to "Long As You Know You're Living Yours," while sax and piano have a field day.

Since the quartet had previously recorded "The Windup," they decided to hold themselves to one take and it is a whirlwind. Marsalis blows full-on Garbarek. Faulkner and Revis happily rassle with Christensen and Danielsson, creating a rhythmic fervor that Calderazzo, like Jarrett, cannot resist. The collective hush of "Solstice" closes the proceedings as it should, with Marsalis taking command of his rich defining soprano and his henchmen cresting at every turn. So much more than tribute or homage, this Belonging is a work that stands righteously on its own.

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