Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Sarah Morrow: Greenlight

Sarah Morrow: Greenlight

By Dave Nathan
July 1, 2001
View read count

Shades of Melba Liston, another trombone player from the distaff side! Playing this sometimes clumsy instrument can be a real challenge for a woman given the stretch needed for the slide and high-level breath control required. But there are no obstacles for Sarah Morrow. Ohio born, but working mainly in Europe and was discovered by Ray Charles, she became the first female member of his Orchestra.

Morrow's inaugural album is a set of challenging and exciting music. All but two of the tracks are her compositions and he is equally adept with the pen as she is on the trombone. Morrow combines these two faculties on "Waduyathink?", a 14 minute excursion into modern jazz. The trombone poses the questions and the answers come back, sometimes discordantly, mostly from hard bopper Antoine Roney's tenor, but with Jaz Sawyer's drums getting in a word or two. An exciting, breathtaking track. "Waduyathink?" is the first half of a medley with Miles Davis' "All Blues" which gets a thoroughly modern workout by the group.

Morrow's sentimental side is heard on "You Don't Know What Love Is" as she fits well within the small group setting. James Hurt piano gets lots of space and Sawyer punctuates at just the right places to give the set pulse. Ugonna Okegwo's bass gets the spotlight on an appropriately titled tune for the album's send off, "One for the Road", where Morrow's trombone is complimented by a spare sax solo by Antoine Roney.

Lots of good stuff here. Based on this album, Sarah Morrow should be a staple on the jazz scene for a long time to come.

Track Listing

Intro; Greenlight; Tisha's Dance; Elvin Goes Waltzing; You Don't Know What Love Is; Waduyathink? / All Blues; One for the Road.

Personnel

Sarah Morrow

trombone

Sarah Morrow- trombone; Antoine Roney- tenor saxophone; James Hurt- piano; Ugonna Okegwo- bass; Jaz Sawyer- drums; Kazi Oliver- percussion on "Greenlight" and "Tisha's Dance."

Album information

Title: Greenlight | Year Released: 2001 | Record Label: Cobra Bleu

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Meet Duane Eubanks
< Previous

Mats Gustafsson / Paul Lovens Duo & ...
Next >

Support All About Jazz

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.