Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Benjamin Drazen: Inner Flights

218

Benjamin Drazen: Inner Flights

Track review of "Polka Dots And Moonbeams"

Benjamin Drazen: Inner Flights
Alto and soprano saxophonist Benjamin Drazen's smashing debut recording as a leader contains all of the essential ingredients for a meaningful mainstream jazz record. The leader's seven original compositions are a diverse, substantial, and pleasantly familiar lot. Drazen and pianist Jon Davis, the disc's primary soloists, play in the moment and think their way through improvisations instead of endlessly spewing licks mastered in the practice room. The rhythm section, comprised of Davis, bassist Carlo Derosa, and drummer Eric McPherson, evinces a focused, levelheaded quality, even while they engage in rousing, straightforward swing.

Taken at a snail's pace, Drazen's version of the standard "Polka Dots And Moonbeams" is six minutes and fifty-eight seconds of pure ballad magic. Following Davis's brief introduction, the saxophonist seesaws between a tender rendering of the tune's melody and hearty, effusive locutions. He tugs at the heartstrings and engages the intellect. Later on, his improvisation is more assertive yet never departs from the character of the song. Davis' brief solo makes every note fit into a larger scheme. There's a quiet, understated eloquence in the ways in which chords are lightly struck and sustained. At one point Davis plays a portion of one of the tune's phrases, lets a note hang in the air, and then DeRosa deftly fills in the rest. Throughout the track, Drazen and company make emotionally compelling music that doesn't need to shout to make its point.

Track Listing

Mr. Twilight; Monkish; Prayer For Brothers Gone; Jazz Heaven; Inner Flights; Neeney's Waltz; This Is New; Kickin' Up Dirt; Polka Dots And Moonbeams.

Personnel

Benjamin Drazen
saxophone

Benjamin Drazen: alto saxophone, soprano saxophone; Jon Davis: piano; Carlo De Rosa: bass; Eric McPherson: drums.

Album information

Title: Inner Flights | Year Released: 2011 | Record Label: Posi-Tone Records

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.