[JPL] A Young Saxophonist in Good Post-Bop Company

[r durfee]

May 5, 2007
Music Review | Joel Frahm
A Young Saxophonist in Good Post-Bop Company 
By NATE CHINEN
Joel Frahm, who has been playing at Sweet Rhythm this
week, has established an identity over the last decade
as a post-bop tenor saxophonist with a deft and
assertive command. He has sharpened his skills
alongside members of his peer group, like the singer
Jane Monheit and the drummer Matt Wilson. A few years
ago he recorded an album of duets with Brad Mehldau, a
pianist with a much higher profile, but it was a
meeting of equals, and not just because the two
musicians had met in their teens.

“We Used to Dance” (Anzic), Mr. Frahm’s new album,
proposes a different playing field. It features the
pianist Kenny Barron, the bassist Rufus Reid and the
drummer Victor Lewis, who represent an upper tier of
jazz experience. Perhaps more hazardously for Mr.
Frahm, they also constitute a former rhythm section of
Stan Getz, one of the tenor heroes whose style he has
labored to absorb. 

Mr. Frahm has the same cohort at Sweet Rhythm, and the
first bit of good news is that he capably resists the
tidal pull of emulation. His first set on Thursday
night bore only light traces of the Getz sound, even
on “Jobimiola,” an original bossa nova that could
easily have turned into a tribute.

Some other saxophone influences, notably the John
Coltrane and Sonny Rollins of late-1950s and
early-1960s vintage, appeared in flashes brief enough
to avoid becoming distractions. On the set opener,
“Bob’s Blues,” Mr. Frahm spelled out a sequence of
Coltrane-like chord substitutions. His solo ended, as
it does on the album, with the two-bar turnaround of
“Blues on the Corner,” by Coltrane’s former pianist
McCoy Tyner. 

Not surprisingly, the rhythm section gave Mr. Frahm
everything he needed: bubbling propulsion on a couple
of bebop heads, mysterious shading on an odd-metered
original. Together Mr. Reid and Mr. Lewis provided a
laid-back or leaning-forward rhythmic feeling,
according to the demands of the tune. 

Mr. Barron confirmed his sterling reputation as both a
sideman and a soloist. On the complex workout “A Whole
New You,” he shifted between percussive accents and
elaborative filigree, in a way that matched the flow
of Mr. Frahm’s solo. Then came his own improvisation,
a study in energetic fluency. Before handing the baton
to Mr. Reid, he coyly cited the song’s harmonic
precursor, the standard “I Remember You.”

It was on the set’s only ballad, “My Ideal,” that the
quartet most resembled a working band. Mr. Frahm
interpreted the melody respectfully, with a
warmblooded tone and a rounded sense of phrase. Mr.
Barron’s accompaniment gently sparkled, and the
foundation of bass and drums felt simple but plush. In
that air of focused relaxation, Mr. Frahm and his
elders sounded as if they understood each other to the
core.

Joel Frahm continues through tomorrow at Sweet Rhythm,
88 Seventh Avenue South, at Bleecker Street, West
Village, (212) 255-3626, sweetrhythmny.com.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/05/arts/music/05frah.html?_r=1&ref=music&oref=login

Roy Durfee
P.O. Box 40219
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87196-0219
rdurfee2003 at yahoo.com

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