Ralph Lalama Quartet – The Audience – Mighty Quinn MQP1118, 55:05 ***1/2:
(Ralph Lalama, tenor sax; John Hart, guitar; Rick Petrone, bass; Joe Corsello, drums)
After stints with the Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, the Carnegie Hall Jazz band, and the Grammy award winning Joe Lovano Nonet, Ralph Lalama has acquired a tenor sax tone that’s both muscular and sensitive, and one that’s as comfortable navigating a 5/4 hard bop tune as it is a heartfelt ballad. With the help of guitarist John Hart and the rhythm section of Rick Petrone and Joe Corsello, Lalama makes the kind of smart, souful jazz music that never gets old.
On Wayne Shorter’s Marie Antoinette, the quartet keeps things light and swinging, with two impressive solos from Lalama and Hart. On their cover of Stevie Wonder’s Livin’ For the City, the group replaces Wonder’s funky backbeat with an off-center rhythm that gives the song more of a hard bop reading than a "soul jazz" one. Portrait of Jennie is a melancholy ballad that highlights Lalama and Hart’s ability to be musically inventive without disturbing a song’s dominant mood. Of the three short improvisations Lalama plays with each member of his quarter (Jonme, Jome, and Ricme), Jonme may be the best, with the two players winding around each other in a game of musical catch-me.
Listening to an album like The Audience, it’s easy to forget how skilled the players are because they play with such poise and confidence that it all sounds so easy. But make no mistake–this is the product of true veterans, musicians who’ve honed their craft for so long that you can no longer hear them "working."
TrackList: Marie Antoinette, Livin For the City, Love Thy Neighobr, Jonme, Portrait of Jennie, Minor League, Jome, Kiss & Run, Ricme, Im an Old Cowhand
– Daniel Krow
