Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Alexander Claffy: Good Spirits

27

Alexander Claffy: Good Spirits

By

View read count
Alexander Claffy: Good Spirits
Bassist Alexander Claffy's quintet dashes from the starting gate on Good Spirits with a fiery reading of McCoy Tyner's propulsive "Inner Glimpse," setting the tone for a bright and animated session whose spirit is undeniably good. The album was recorded "live" (no audience) at GB's Juke Joint in New York City "at the height of the [coronavirus] pandemic" in February 2021.

Claffy's front line consists of trumpeter Benny Benack III and tenor saxophonist Nicole Glover; his teammates in the rhythm section are pianist Julius Rodriguez and the well-known and highly respected drummer Joe Farnsworth. Claffy wrote two of the album's eight selections, and both are tributes—"To the Great Gerald Cannon" (a bassist, painter and educator whose impressive resume validates the superlative) and "Beeb's Lament," a far-from-mournful salute to Benack's nickname. The remaining numbers were composed by Michel Legrand, Harold Mabern, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard and Toninho Horta.

Claffy makes Legrand's ballad "I Will Wait for You" his showcase, firmly plucking the melody and displaying his admirable chops as soloist. He solos again on Henderson's "Isotope" and Hubbard's "Straight Life," but leaves the lion's share of the ad libbing in the hands of Benack, Glover and Rodriguez. And how do they fare? Quite respectably, even though none of the three could be readily singled out in a lineup of their peers. They simply take care of business, and do it well, even though laboring earnestly to keep pace on the frenzied opener, "Inner Glimpse." Things settle down after that, and the ensemble has no problem unsnarling "Gerald Cannon," Mabern's frisky "There But for the Grace Of," or any other number. Rodriguez moves to electric piano on Horta's tender ballad, "Beijo Partido," on which Benack plays muted. The jaunty "Cannon" is a highlight, as are "There But for the Grace Of" and "Beeb's Lament."

If your spirits crave a boost, Good Spirits may be just the tonic you need. And if it isn't, that can't be ascribed to a lack of effort or enthusiasm on the part of Claffy and his colleagues.

Track Listing

Inner Glimpse; For the Great Gerald Cannon; I Will Wait for You; There But for the Grace Of; Isotope; Beeb’s Lament; Beijo Partito; Straight Life.

Personnel

Benny Benack III
trumpet and vocals
Nicole Glover
saxophone, tenor

Album information

Title: Good Spirits | Year Released: 2022 | Record Label: Cellar Music Group

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.