CARL BARTLETT JR. - Promise!
Self Release (www.carlbartlettjr.com)
Carl Bartlett Jr. (alto saxophone); Yoichi Uzeki (piano); Marcus McLaurine (bass); Sylvia Cuenca (drums); Charles Bartlett (trumpet on 2 tracks)
Recorded February 1& 6, 2017
This is an immensely enjoyable set from Bartlett Jr, and a New Yorker playing straight ahead jazz out of the bebop and hard bop school of thought he is speaking in his native tongue. He does this to an extremely high standard, and with a fluency of execution and a steady flow of satisfyingly melodic and rhythmically astute solos that ensure that the album is a joy from start to finish.
Taking up the alto saxophone at age fourteen and encouraged by his saxophonist father and his uncle, Charles Bartlett who is heard on two tracks, he was off to a good grounding. Studying at college with Dick Oatts, Steve Slagle and Antonio Hart further enhanced his education, along with gigging on a regular basis. This combination of education, both on and off the stand, and more formal study has left the thirty five year old altoist with an assured and confident tone, that still retains the swagger of youth coupled with his burgeoning experience, yet does not slavishly copy his idols but builds on the New York sound and legacy that he is so proud to be a part of.
With eight original compositions from Bartlett, he is (like many), not distancing himself from the use of more familiar bebop themes or standards but finding the right framework in which to deliver his own improvisations in a fresh and invigorating way. This he does by writing concise and lithe melodies that are both memorable and fine vehicles for the quartet/quintet to explore harmonically and rhythmically.
Anxious not to throw caution to the wind on every track, he modulates the programme nicely with a good variety of tempos and feel. The more relaxed tempo is superbly handled on the sensuous 'AsThe Gift Unfolds Before My Eyes' with a fine introduction from pianist, Yoichi Uzeki, who incidentally is excellent throughout. Another ingenious way of keeping things fresh is with the introduction of another horn in none other than the altoist's uncle, Charles Bartlett on trumpet on a swinging 'The Bartlett Family' and bebop/post bop rooted 'It's Been So Grand'. The older man immediately brings a calmness and assurance to bear on the young quartet, ably demonstrating that tension and excitement generated can be in his carefully crafted solos that refuse to be hurried.
The CD liner notes make much of the exploration by the quartet of shifting metres, but for the majority of listeners this technical information will be of little consequence as they bask in the sheer exuberance of the playing on this fine release.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
Self Release (www.carlbartlettjr.com)
Carl Bartlett Jr. (alto saxophone); Yoichi Uzeki (piano); Marcus McLaurine (bass); Sylvia Cuenca (drums); Charles Bartlett (trumpet on 2 tracks)
Recorded February 1& 6, 2017
This is an immensely enjoyable set from Bartlett Jr, and a New Yorker playing straight ahead jazz out of the bebop and hard bop school of thought he is speaking in his native tongue. He does this to an extremely high standard, and with a fluency of execution and a steady flow of satisfyingly melodic and rhythmically astute solos that ensure that the album is a joy from start to finish.
Taking up the alto saxophone at age fourteen and encouraged by his saxophonist father and his uncle, Charles Bartlett who is heard on two tracks, he was off to a good grounding. Studying at college with Dick Oatts, Steve Slagle and Antonio Hart further enhanced his education, along with gigging on a regular basis. This combination of education, both on and off the stand, and more formal study has left the thirty five year old altoist with an assured and confident tone, that still retains the swagger of youth coupled with his burgeoning experience, yet does not slavishly copy his idols but builds on the New York sound and legacy that he is so proud to be a part of.
With eight original compositions from Bartlett, he is (like many), not distancing himself from the use of more familiar bebop themes or standards but finding the right framework in which to deliver his own improvisations in a fresh and invigorating way. This he does by writing concise and lithe melodies that are both memorable and fine vehicles for the quartet/quintet to explore harmonically and rhythmically.
Anxious not to throw caution to the wind on every track, he modulates the programme nicely with a good variety of tempos and feel. The more relaxed tempo is superbly handled on the sensuous 'AsThe Gift Unfolds Before My Eyes' with a fine introduction from pianist, Yoichi Uzeki, who incidentally is excellent throughout. Another ingenious way of keeping things fresh is with the introduction of another horn in none other than the altoist's uncle, Charles Bartlett on trumpet on a swinging 'The Bartlett Family' and bebop/post bop rooted 'It's Been So Grand'. The older man immediately brings a calmness and assurance to bear on the young quartet, ably demonstrating that tension and excitement generated can be in his carefully crafted solos that refuse to be hurried.
The CD liner notes make much of the exploration by the quartet of shifting metres, but for the majority of listeners this technical information will be of little consequence as they bask in the sheer exuberance of the playing on this fine release.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
