Susanne Alt: Dark Horse

In 2024, saxophonist Susanne Alt released Royalty For Real (Venus Tunes); the album was a homage to her mentor, the late trumpeter Roy Hargrove. It featured bassist Gerald Cannon and drummer Willie Jones III. Their seven-year collaboration in Hargrove's band brought a tight, intuitive groove to the session, complemented further by keyboardist James Hurt. From that same session comes Dark Horse, which features seven Alt compositions plus a Charlie Parker cover.

The album owes its origins to Alt arriving for the New York session with more material than anticipated. This album veers away from using Hargrove's material as a cornerstone and shifts the focus to Alt's playing and composing talents, together with the compelling skills of her rhythm section.

The session, now reframed away from homage to concentrate on exploration, offers a warm sound, plenty of invention and the sound of a band that is clearly enjoying themselves, as opener "Jazz Biotic" reveals. Alt's saxophone builds over Hurt's lively organ riffs, as Cannon and Jones III build a funky groove before Hurt moves to the piano for his solo.

Alt is an extremely polished saxophonist, bringing Latin, soul and funk influences to her work across alto, tenor and soprano saxophones. Her approach is warm-toned and melodic throughout, favoring accessibility over boundary-pushing experimentation, even in the fusion-flavored "Altitudes Of Freedom."

The band's spontaneity is captured on Charlie Parker's "Au Privave," where the pianist's late arrival did not prevent Alt and Cannon from delivering well-paced solos alongside Jones III's drum flurries. That infectious sense of energy and enjoyment continues through the driving rhythms of "Kalunga Dance" and the funky "Jonesin,'" with Hurt back in place adding flowing solos to the band's smoldering performance.

Elsewhere, the title track is dark and urgent, while the relaxed swing of "Cannonballin'" sees Alt move between saxophone and flute and naturally features a solo from the track's namesake. There is no doubting Alt's virtuosity; her sound is inviting and soulful with fluent improvisations throughout. Together with her tightly grooving bandmates, she delivers an album offering much to admire.