Bradfor Hayes©Rob Swenson

The Jazz Life (Bradford Hayes)

Altoist Bradford Hayes grew up in Virginia and earned his music education degree at North Carolina A &T State University. A former student of George Coleman and Charles Davis, Hayes spent 15 years with the late Babatunde Olatunji’s Drums Of Passion Band (including a term as Music Director) and has served for 24 years as a music educator in the Newark, NJ Public Schools. The Jazz Life is his third release as leader, following Bianca’s Dance (2000) and his out-of-print debut, Our Fathers.

Aptly titled, this recording most simply is about “The Jazz Life”—the world of melody, improvisation, collaboration and sharing the spotlight, the best qualities of the genre that too often are overshadowed by technical displays and electronic experiments. Even when taking a more smooth direction, as he does on the final track, “Holistic Invention,” Hayes remains true to the defining elements of mainstream post bop.

Out of the gate with “Tunji’s Blues” (written by Hayes in honor of his late employer Olantunji), the sextet (featuring trumpeter Duane Eubanks, trombonist Cornell McGhee, pianist Michael Cochrane, bassist Calvin Jones and drummer Greg Searvance) announces the recording as a hard bop session. In the fashion of the classic bop bands of the 50s and 60s, they cover a lot of music in just 3 ½ minutes, riding through the ensemble/solo/ensemble format with everyone taking a turn. Hayes includes tunes written for his wife “Carolyn,” “My Sons” and (daughter) “Bianca’s Dance.” “Carolyn” features a rambunctious bassline supporting Hayes’ conversational melody and variations on his theme, followed by Cochrane’s simple linear line that evolves into a more interesting improv. Filled with a sweet joy, “My Sons” opens with the hornline in command and a mildly Latin feel. Jones’ melodic bass solo here should be required listening for aspiring young bassists. “Bianca’s Dance” generates a samba-like pulse from the rhythm section while Hayes seems to fly right over it, a joyful and forceful display of technical control and artistic fervor; and Cochrane delivers one of his most charming solos. Hayes’ other compostion, “The Desert”—dedicated to Christmas—offers a rather funky trip through the Holy Land, with a soaring solo from Eubanks while McGhee provides all the elements one loves in a trombone—melodic with traces of humor and a bit of growl.

Searvance and Cochrane each contribute one tune: The drummer’s “One Little Indian” is filled with the beats of an old Cowboy and Indian movie and a quick dose of Searvance’s artistry. The shortest track at under three minutes, it covers a lot of rhythmic territory quickly. Cochrane’s “Holistic Invention” gives Hayes his wish, to record a smooth jazz tune. With Cochrane apparently on Fender Rhodes and Jones on electric bass, this is not Kenny G, with a sophisticated improvisation taking the final track along for more than eight minutes, the longest track on the CD. I wouldn’t want a whole album of this sound but it’s a nice change of pace and shows off Hayes’ range as well as the artistic potential of this style.

The remaining tracks include covers of Newark native Wayne Shorter’s “Black Nile,” featuring harmoniously blended horn lines and Cochrane weaving a tight cocoon around the core melody; “The Coaster” from another Newark native, Grachon Moncur III, on which Hayes somersaults over spectacular rhythm section support, with Cochrane dropping chords while bass and percussion act as jet fuel, setting up McGhee’s most impressive statement of the recording; Hayes making short but impassioned work of Hoagy Carmichael’s “The Nearness of You;” and boasting some of his most impressive improvisations on Benny Golson’s “Whisper Not.”

All in all, The Jazz Life is a very satisfying ensemble effort with some engaging sax work from an emerging talent.

Parallel Lives (Rob Lockart)

Rob Lockart

Bold as he is talented, Lockart’s set includes six original compositions and two familiar covers reinvented. “All or Nothing at All” opens the session with an angular foundation laid down by the rhythm section. Here Lockert blows with a nasal, slightly whiney tone while covering the full range of the horn; Cunliffe, an under-rated master from LA, takes a solo that abstractly deconstructs the theme, his lyrical phrasing buoyed by drop shots and tingling cymbals from LaBarbera and deep-end bass notes from DiAngelo. Matt Dennis’ “Everything Happens to Me” features a sensual swing from Lockart’s lower register while Cunliffe’s glittering improv slides over slow swinging basslines. Lockart stays close to home but his landscaping is perfect.

The remaining tracks are Lockart originals. On “Nightmare Thief,” Lockart’s tone is robust while D’Angelo burns through his solo; the slower paced “First Steps” offers a charming melody in search of lyrics while the title track features an energetic and thundering drum solo from LaBarbera. A standout track, “Waiting for Truth” has an ominous vamp beginning and features Larry Koonse's guitar and Searvance's rolling percussion. Lockart creates bird-like calls, mirrored by Koonse in a mournful but lyrical longing. The melodic voices rise over a percussive shimmer and Cunliffe solos with elegant reverence in closing the track. This is very different from Lockart's other compositions, more abstract, more introspective, plaintive but beautiful. “The Last of the Red Note Riders” is another introspective journey, LaBarbera creating a soft line of thunderclouds, becoming increasingly insistent with what sounds like hand claps. Lockart develops his motifs and builds upon them from above, below and all around.

The finale, “It’s Not Over Yet,” features two tenors at work with the addition of Bob Sheppard. Cunliffe provides a jagged left-hand pattern, while the two-sax harmonies mimic a larger line of multiple horns. Cunliffe adds right-handed magic to the ongoing left-handed vamp—it’s hard to understand how one brain can handle such opposing directions! The last is the longest track, allowing for more excitement and experimentation. Approaching the end, the horns return, creating a cacophonous gab session in the final minute.

Things are cooking in LA!

Live at Cezanne’s (Woody Witt)

Live at Cezannes

With the exception of an exceptional “Footprints,” the compositions are all originals from Witt and his cohorts, creating a coherent 9-track suite where one composition flows seamlessly into the next, including short interludes of spontaneous improvisation. Planned or not in advance, this strategy furthers the listener’s sense of a live date. Witt’s opening “Afterthought” is one of three tunes on the CD originally conceived as a suite for a Houston dance company, although this one was actually composed earlier. Immediately we are introduced to Witt’s melodic and snakey tenor and to Hagans’ bright and brassy explorations. A 46-second interlude, LoCascio’s “Piano” flows from “Afterthought” right into Witt’s second dance suite track, “Renewal,” an elongated composition and one of several tracks exceeding 10 minutes. The real gem here is LoCascio’s swinging tour through Witt’s composition, while Witt’s midtrack solo shows off his luscious tone as well as his chops as composer. Witt’s last notes lead right into a duet with Hagans, a 90-second freeblow (“Trumpet and Saxophone”) that flows like an animated conversation among friends.

“Footprints” is the CD’s centerpiece on multiple levels, a 16-minute mini-suite of its own that evolved with no prior arrangement, simply spontaneous combustion. The drums and bass start to rumble in a free introduction to Shorter’s masterpiece, with the skeleton of the original barely poking out through the horn haze for the first nearly 2 minutes. Witt chases his own notes in spirals while LoCascio fills in with chords of sanity. For his own solo episode, the pianist weaves linear phrases, unraveling the melodic thread and reconfiguring the skein over some deep throaty bass notes from Hamilton. As if tired by the abstract disruption, LoCascio returns to a lyrical mode that softly rises and falls, becoming more frenetic as Hamilton increases his own velocity. Bates reemerges with drop shots that become rumbles, Locascio hinting again at the original theme. Hagans writes his chapter, engaging in a duel with Bates that could serve as a blueprint for a future pairing. Each has his own storyline but the fit is perfect, Hagans scaling Mt. Shorter with its attendant switchbacks while JT maintains a steady array of sounds that fill in the crevices. Everyone shines on this track, and “Footprints” has never sounded as fresh and exciting since Miles Davis.

Woody Witt©Andrea Canter

The future of jazz saxophone seemed assured via the ascent of the likes of young masters--Joshua Redman, James Carter, Eric Alexander, Marcus Strickland, Jaleel Shaw and more who have attained high visibility on the New York and international scene. But outside the big clubs and the big labels, it’s even more reassuring to know that there are musicians like Bradford Hayes, Rob Lockart and Woody Witt who, on any given day, blow with as much intensity and creativity as their more touted counterparts. Jazz sax is alive and well, from LA to Houston to Newark!

For more information about these artists, visit their websites: www.bradfordhayes.com; www.myspace.com/roblockart; www.woodywitt.com. Upcoming shows: Rob Lockart at Catalina’s in Los Angeles on October 5^th; Woody Witt Quintet with Billy Hart at Cezanne’s in Houston, October 12-13.