Jim Snidero: For All We Know

The cover photo on Jim Snidero's For All We Know features the saxophonist holding his horn out in front of his body as if he is offering it to us as a holy relic. Holy it is when he plays it; a relic it is not.

The album is Snidero's first recorded offering in a trio setting—sax, bass and drums. No chording instrument. His partners in chordlessness, Peter Washington and Joe Farnsworth—bass and drums, respectively—are a perfect choice, guys who have played with everybody from Art Blakey, McCoy Tyner, Tommy Flanagan, Cedar Walton and so many more. They were also Snidero's bandmates on the masterful Live At the Deer Head Inn (Savant, 2021). Some called that disc a masterpiece. They may have been right.

Snidero's tone is strikingly pure, showcased all the more in the spare trio setting. Tonal beauty stood out in his previous masterpiece, Strings (Milestone Records), released originally in 2002 and re-released in a slightly buffed-up form in 2021 on the Savant label. It is even more apparent on For All We Know, with the altoist playing the familiar standards, from the title tune opener through John Coltrane's "Naima" to Charlie Parker's (there has to be a Bird song here) "Parker's Mood." Throw in Cole Porter's "Love For Sale," Rodgers and Hart's "My Funny Valentine," and the old war horse "Willow Weep For Me" and you have a classic set, played with reverence and an unmatchable feel for melodic beauty.

2024's release of For All We Know sees Jim Snidero entering his fifth decade of jazz artistry. Excellent sounds from start to finish, especially his Savant Records output that began in 2007 with Tippin'. His sound—like Charlie Parkers,' Art Peppers' and Lee Konitz's—is something special, like that holy relic he is holding out is made of gold, the twenty-four-carat type.