One not, even a raspy phrase in and we’ve arrived in the dusky world of the tenor saxophone – the works of older growling world in which tenor saxophonists swung and soared from one end of the music world to the other. It was – and continues to be – a world where the big bruising tenor saxophonists battled with their horns and adorned music with the colours of the night aglow with flames.
On his second album Lifeline hauling his robust quartet along with Fraser Smith puts his spectacular imprint on the music of both the tenor, as well as the music of our time. In the swinging scheme of things, It’s fair to say that Mr Smith Is the boy wonder of neo-mainstream. However, he is tied to no one or no ‘one’ thing that defines his brand of music. His growl, though, is deep and enduring. His bellow is full of the warm air that his lungs can hold. To that extent Mr Smith is a law unto himself: a dark knight with a keen eye for both the fine tuning of melodicism and – equally – the sharpest ear for harmonic and rhythmic intensity.
Mr Smith – in his most beautiful style – if evocative of the finest music that came from the bronzed horn of Dexter Gordon, Illinois Jacquet and the masters of the tenor saxophonists of the era set aflame by their horns. In that world Mr Smith stands apart – poles apart really- bestriding the old and the new like that proverbial Colossus of Rhodes.
Lifeline features beautifully crafted arrangements of beguiling variety and sensuousness in every lovingly caressed phrase. Mr Smith’s chosen material with one or two notable exceptions, judiciously focuses on some lesser known gem associated with Mr Gordon, Mr Jacquet and others of that era, Listening to the manner in which Mr Smith roars through the emotional changes, bending he notes in Red Haze, or sculpting the long-limbed and sustained inventions of The Man I Love and My One and Only Heart, standards in which it’s clear that there’s not a semiquaver that hasn’t been fastidiously considered.
There’s an unhurried quality to his approach, a lived-in character to his phrase-making that has elements of being engaging, threatening and combine the brimstone of youth with the well-honed values of experience. All of this is played with languid ease, each melodic variation following the other, inexorably, his sumptuous tenor sound brilliantly caught in this recording by a team that includes the engineering ingenuity of Ben Lamdin and Lewis Durham.
The musical prowess – sharp ears and brilliantly articulated voices – includes pianist Rob Barron, drummer Steve Brown and bassist Simon Read add much to te music, an intensity to the music that sets it apart and makes this album one to absolutely die for…
Deo Gratis…
Music – 1 – Red Haze; 2: Hinx Thinks; 3: Soho Stroll; 4: Hot Snap; 5. The Man I Love; 6; Fathead; 7. Jacquet Jump; 8. The Shaker; 9. Like Forrest; 10. My One and Only Love; 11. The Beehive; 12 Lifeline!
Musicians– Fraser Smith: tenor saxophone: Rob Barron: piano; Simon Read: contrabass; Steve Brown: drums.
Released: 2025
Label: Lejazzetal FSQ0120
www.frasersmithsax.com
wwwlejazzetal.com
Runtime: 1:16:36