Joe Elefante's Wheel of Dharma: Return of the Light

The second act of Joe Elefante's laudable jazz career was born in tragedy: the loss in 2024 of his wife of sixteen years to cancer. It was then that Elefante, who once led the world-class Joe Elefante Big Band, decided to leave his long-time position as a schoolteacher and return to his first love, jazz, and devote the time he had left to writing and performing again with his talented colleagues and friends.

Return of the Light represents the first recorded outcome of that decision, a pleasant quintet session wherein Elefante uses his jazz expertise and Buddhist beliefs to produce "a meditation on compassion, connection and the possibility of healing." In so doing, he is aided and abetted by trumpeter Freddie Hendrix, alto saxophonist Erena Terakubo, bassist Sameer Shankar and drummer Dave Heilman.

Elefante wrote nine of the album's eleven tasteful selections and arranged all of them, including Brian Wilson and Tony Asher's seductive ballad, "Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)" and John Coltrane's animated closing number, "Some Other Blues." Elefante sets aside his saxophone and plays only piano, even singing (and scatting) on "Some Other Blues." His delicate unaccompanied intro to "Don't Talk" consumes the first three minutes of the anthem, which continues for another eight minutes-plus with the quintet adding its individual and collective voices.

Hendrix and Terakubo are impressive soloists, Shankar proves his mettle on "Don't Talk" and "Some Other Blues," and Heilman does the same on "Simple Girl" and "Blues" while keeping splendid time with minimal flamboyance or intrusion. In other words, everyone works hard together to help raise the enterprise above the norm. It is a superb group effort, and by and large a well-earned group success. Welcome back, Joe.

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