Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Chris Potter Quartet: Lift: Live at the Village Vanguard

329

Chris Potter Quartet: Lift: Live at the Village Vanguard

By

View read count
Chris Potter Quartet: Lift: Live at the Village Vanguard
Just as you're about to really get into tenor saxophonist Chris Potter's funky unaccompanied solo on "7.5," the rest of the band charges in, led by Kevin Hays on an electric keyboard sounding like a ringing cell phone. It grabs your attention, and the band doesn't let go for the next fifteen minutes, with Hays soloing commandingly on piano, and Potter and the song's composer, drummer Bill Stewart, duetting in gripping, telepathic fashion. Stewart carries on with bassist Scott Colley before Potter returns, shadowed by Hays' touch tones.

Colley propels "What You Wish" as Potter lays line on top of line, intensifying the composition as he follows each idea. As the piece continues, Hays takes his turn, generating as much momentum as Potter before him. Potter starts "Stella by Starlight" with a delicate reading, the atmosphere handled by Stewart's continuous brushing, Colley's solid bass, and Hays' piano flourishes, before he opens his heart and gets strong supportive backing from the band.

The title track is complex, shifting among tempos and soloists so that it's three or four tunes in one. By the end, the band is in a race to the finish line, until they cross it and restate the melody to cool down. The lovely "Okinawa" features Potter's soprano and a minimalist piano solo echoed by Hays' simultaneous keyboard. The effect is ethereal and graceful, suggestive of a Japanese koto.

The program closes with a version of Mingus' "Boogie Stop Shuffle" in two parts. The first, a solo intro, puts Potter's round tone on display in a cascade of notes before finally taking aim at the melody, and the band joins in to swing the tune like it was meant to be swung. To tackle Mingus without a big band, you need a band that sounds big, and with Hays doubling on electric and acoustic keys, together with the hard swing of Stewart and Colley, the quartet manages to sound twice its size.

Track Listing

7.5; What You Wish; Stella By Starlight; Lift; Okinawa; Boogie Stop Shuffle Sax Intro; Boogie Stop Shuffle

Personnel

Chris Potter
saxophone, tenor

Chris Potter (tenor and soprano saxophones), Kevin Hays (piano, Fender Rhodes), Scott Colley (bass), Bill Stewart (drums, percussion)

Album information

Title: Lift: Live at the Village Vanguard | Year Released: 2004 | Record Label: Sunnyside 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.

Near

More

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

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.