Faiz Lamouri: Wonders

One of the many pleasures of listening to jazz is heard in the mystical connection between a musician and their instrument exampled in saxophonist Faïz Lamouri's debut Wonders. The Moroccan born/French saxophonist plays with songbird quality—sumptuous tone and darting flight paths which speak of his arduous studies and experience playing in popular France jazz clubs Sunset/Sunside and Le Baiser Salé.

These attributes provide for a swinging straight-ahead program recorded in New York with a world class ensemble which includes the crack rhythm section of bassist Vincente Archer, drummer Damion Reid and Sam Mortellaro's free flowing piano.

Lightning strikes in "Open Dream" where Lamouri's playing moves from graceful contours to "Onyr"'s raspy declarations echoing the great voices of Coltrane and Rollins. Mortellaro is of particular note in many of the tracks with his pianistic dialect of stride, blues and funk in the jumping joint "Project 13."

Throughout the set Lamouri makes the case for the art-form of swing in blistering hard bop ("Bustling"), an emotive ballad ("Reveries") and progressive rhythms ("Wanderer") while shining the light on his own promising voice.