Pay special attention to tenor man Wayne Escoffery, whose rapid development – from album to album (and seemingly solo to solo) – has given us a jazz hero for the coming decade (Niel Tesser)
Ein frischer Wind bläst über dem Ozean des Mainstream. Wayne Escoffery, in London geboren und mit acht Jahren in die Staaten gekommen, ist nicht nur festes Mitglied in der Band von Pianist Eric Reed, sondern auch ein formidabler Solokünstler. Das zeigt der Tenor- und Sopransaxofonist auf seinem Debüt als Leader. Drei Eigenkompositionen stehen fünf Jazzklassikern wie Sam Rivers' "Beatrice" oder Jobims "Triste" gegenüber. Und Escoffery und seine Band bearbeiten dieses Material mit so viel Inbrunst und Spielwitz, dass die Ohren beim Zuhören jubilieren. Jedes Bandmitglied genießt Freiheiten und fügt Nuancen wie Mosaiksteinchen zu einem fließenden Gesamtwerk hinzu. Escofferys satter und geschmeidiger Tenorsound ist wendig und reitet fantasievoll auf dem Swing seiner Partner. So macht modernes Traditionsbewusstsein Laune. (Christoph Giese, Jazz thing)
Since moving to New York City in 2000, Grammy Award winning tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffery has become one of the Jazz world’s most talented rising stars and in-demand sidemen. He has recorded six studio dates as a leader, two as a co-leader and been on numerous other recordings. He began his professional career touring and recording with The Eric Reed Septet. Since then he has been a member of many groups including The Mingus Big Band, Orchestra and Dynasty, Ron Carter’s Great Bigband, Abdulah Ibrahim’s Akaya, The Ben Riley Quartet and Jazz At Lincoln Center’s “Music of the Masters” consisting of two groups of musicians hand picked by Wynton Marsalis to perform the music of Jazz legends Dexter Gordon and Miles Davis. In 2006 Wayne secured one of the most coveted gigs in jazz: a frontline position in Tom Harrell’s working quintet. He is currently a member of the quintet and to date has recorded five CDs with the group and co-produced Harrell’s last four releases Prana Dance, Roman Nights, The Time of the Sun and No. 5. In addition to being a part of some of the last true “apprenticeship” opportunities of this era, Wayne leads his own quintet featuring five-year Miles Davis Band veteran Adam Holzman, and has a new recording out with the group on Sunnyside Records titled The Only Son of One. (Pressetext)