Mark Masters Ensemble: Dance, Eternal Spirits, Dance!

In 2023-24, the celebrated arranger Mark Masters led his superb southern California-based ensemble into studios to record a pair of tribute albums. The first, Sam Rivers 100, was dedicated to the music of the late saxophonist on the one hundredth anniversary of his birth; the second, Dance, Eternal Spirits, Dance!, to that of another renowned saxophonist, Billy Harper, who is not only very much alive at age eighty-two but serves as guest soloist on both recordings.

Unlike Rivers, who moved from bop to free jazz late in his career, Harper is from the Dexter Gordon/Wardell Gray/Hank Mobley school of hard bop, wherein he remains a devoted student and promoter. His charts are thus more in tune with the ensemble's usual fare, which emphasizes but is not limited to compositions and arrangements that are basically straight ahead and swinging in a more paradigmatic jazz mode. Masters takes full advantage, writing perceptive charts that lend Harper's themes luminosity and import.

As for Harper, he solos on every number save one and sounds as sharp and creative as ever. He also brings his own pianist, longtime colleague Francesca Tanksley, who greatly enlivens the finished product at every turn, comping impeccably and adding an eloquent solo voice on four numbers. And speaking of impressive solo voices, the ensemble has several of its own, among them trumpeters Tim Hagans (an alumnus of the US Air Force's flagship Airmen of Note) and Aaron Janik, tenors Jerry Pinter and Kirsten Edkins and trombonist Ido Meshulam. There are others in the wings, but none of them solos on this session.

Instead, it is Harper who carries the ball most often, and he is a swift and sturdy runner who scores every time. He also writes well, which makes Masters' task, if not easy, at least less demanding. Harper's compositions range from explosive ("Insight," "Was It Here...Is It There?") to balladic ("If One Could Only See") with several pleasurable stops along the way. Masters uses his arranging skills to accentuate their brightest moments, lending discernment and warmth to the themes already mentioned as well as to the charming "Croquet Ballet," harmonically nimble "Seventh Day," deeply nuanced "Credence," minor-key waltz "The One Who Makes the Rain Stop" and the seductive medium tempo title song.

Two albums honoring two disparate yet similarly lauded and accomplished musicians equals two stellar albums by the excellent Mark Masters Jazz Ensemble. And while each one is impressive in its own right, they do fit especially well together.

Comments