Nat Reeves: Now In Time

As a gift for Nat Reeves' 70th birthday in May 2025, Ken Kitchings, owner of the Side Door Jazz Club in Old Lyme, Connecticut, said he would underwrite a recording for the renowned bassist using whatever musicians Reeves chose to recruit. Having played and recorded with a who's who of jazz luminaries during his 50-plus-year career, Reeves knew exactly where to go and who to contact.

Tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, a longtime colleague, was an obvious choice, as were trumpeter Eddie Henderson, trombonist Steve Davis and drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts. Kitchings suggested Orrin Evans for the piano chair, Reeves readily agreed (a wise decision), and the sextet's lineup for Now In Time was set. The playlist was next, and Reeves chose compositions by Sonny Stitt, Jackie McLean, Pharoah Sanders, Kenny Garrett and Mulgrew Miller; his sidemen selected the others save for three by Reeves: "Blue Ridge," "For RJ," "Waltz for Ellis," and Alexander's "Dave's System."

The scenic "Blue Ridge" leads things off, its mid-tempo groove a perfect fit for persuasive solos by Henderson, Alexander and Davis. Stitt wrote "Katea's Dance" for his daughter, and Alexander solos intensely before handing the baton to Evans, Davis and Watts. Davis takes the lead on McLean's urgent "Appointment in Ghana," which leads to Henderson's charming showpiece, the lovely "Portrait of Jennie," Garrett's lighthearted "Sounds of the Flying Pygmies" and the second of Reeves' original compositions, "For RJ" (Reeves' grandfather, Russell Jackson), on which the leader moves to cello, as he does later on the lyrical "Alice in Wonderland."

Alexander rides in to seize the melody and assume solo honors on his "Dave's System," after which Davis and Henderson solo and spar on Sanders' "The Creator Has a Master Plan." Henderson's trumpet (open and muted) leads the way on an off-center reading of Bronislau Kaper's well-known film theme, "On Green Dolphin Street," Reeves and the rhythm section enrich "Alice in Wonderland," and everyone returns to adorn Miller's rhythmic "Samba D'Blue" before Evans plus rhythm wrap the package with a burnished reading of Reeves' soulful finale, "Waltz for Ellis" (painter Ellis Ruley).

While the term "all-star" is no doubt overused, every member of Reeves' stellar sextet deserves mention whenever the imposing stature of contemporary jazz musicians is being debated. All-stars? That's a matter of taste and opinion. Suffice to say they are exemplary, as is Reeves' latest recording, Now in Time. Nothing more need be said.