Jerry Weldon: The Summit

"Keep it swinging." That is the concise credo of veteran tenor saxophonist Jerry Weldon who talks the talk and walks the walk on this galvanic concert date recorded in November 2024 at the New Brunswick (New Jersey) Performing Arts Center. The Summit is the name Weldon has bestowed on his able-bodied sextet, which he formed during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020-22.

The ensemble is in splendid form here, sprinting breezily through a pair of Weldon's pleasing original compositions, others by Gigi Gryce, Lee Morgan and Wayne Shorter, and a trio of evergreens from the Great American Songbook. Trumpeter Alonzo Demetrius and trombonist Peter Lin complete the front line, reinforcing a like-minded rhythm section comprised of pianist Mike Bond, bassist Jason Clotter and drummer Carmen Intorre Jr.

While the group swings hard at every turn, there are only two bona fide flag-wavers on the menu: Gryce's fiery opener, "Minority," and Shorter's scrappy "Summit." Demetrius solos first on each one, followed by Weldon, Bond and Intorre on "Minority," Weldon, Lin, Bond and Intorre on "The Summit." Weldon wrote the carefree bossa "Sunny V" for his wife, Virginia Deberry, and the steadily walking "Damon's Day," on which he solos with Demetrius and Clotter.

Weldon's expressive tenor is showcased on the ballad "Good Morning Heartache," a tune long associated with singer Billie Holiday, which follows the ensemble's brisk reading of Morgan's assertive "Calling Miss Khadija," wherein Lin takes the first of his three engaging solos. He solos again, as noted, on "The Summit" and on the well-grooved finale, Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields' "On the Sunny Side of the Street," on which Weldon doubles as a vocalist of sorts. The other standard is "You Go to My Head," whose blowing space is shared by Weldon and Bond.

The concert is well-recorded, the audience boisterous and enthusiastic, chanting "Jerry, Jerry, Jerry" as the group takes its closing bows after "Sunny Side." The accolades are well-earned, as Weldon and his companions have dined generously on the concert's appetizing menu and left nothing on the table. This is one Summit that is not only worth climbing but hearing and applauding as well.

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