This double-disc package from
Eric Alexander contains a live date by his quartet in 2007 at the
Diana Wortham Theater, in Asheville, NC. The program contains mostly originals by either the saxophonist or his pianist
David Hazeltine. Bassist
John Webber and drummer
Joe Farnsworth round out this excellent band, and the performance is simply electrifying. This band communicates deeply and widely, moving from lyric to
modal improvisation at every turn. The dialogue between
Alexander and
Hazeltine is symbiotic, crossing harmonic paths and building on them whether it's a
blues, such as the opening tune
"Blues Like," Leonard Bernstein's
"Some Other Time," or
"We All Love Eddie Harris," by
Hazeltine, in which a Latin groove by the rhythm section evolves into a funky one and then gets stretched into a free flowing exercise in funky harmonic invention. The groove is constant, there are no lulls, and what's happening on the stand is what makes
jazz itself magical: fluid exchanges of complex ideas turned into what appears simple and easy. For the listener, the sound of the gig with its raw immediacy, kinetic energy, and confident interplay is nothing less than a complete delight as these players all challenge one another while remaining committed to the flow of the ensemble. The DVD included contains a longer, very different show, even if some of the tunes are the same. Again, the beauty of
jazz is that it's different all the time.
Alexander is such a fiery tenor player, evoking everyone from
Coltrane and
Rollins to
Gene Ammons and
Booker Ervin in his playing, all the while remaining himself. The DVD is a gas to watch, but even more incredible to simply listen to, as the extra cuts here, like
Alexander's
"First Impression," and the title cut which closes out the program are almost staggering in their harmonic and rhythmic brilliance. Likewise
Hazeltine's ability to create these enormous yet knotty, grooving chord voicings before he takes the groove right through the roof on
"We All Love Eddie Harris," or
"Little Lucas," or his
"Pearls" -- he's completely amazing. This is a smoking hot set, whether you are watching or just listening. ~ Thom Jurek
![A Winter's Solstice [2001]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0886977153327_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "A Winter's Solstice [2001]")
