Azar Lawrence Archive

Azar Lawrence & Al McLean – Frontiers – CellarLive

by Audiophile Audition | Jan 7, 2017 | Jazz CD Reviews

Azar Lawrence & Al McLean – Frontiers – CellarLive CL 073116, 72:22 ***:  A gritty outing from two like-minded spirits. (Azar Lawrence – tenor saxophone; Al McLean – tenor saxophone; Adrian Vedady – acoustic bass; Paul Shrofel – piano; Greg Ritchie – drums) For a period in the ‘50s and ‘60s, groups led by two tenor saxophone players seemed to hold some caché. For example there was the group led by Al Cohn and Zoot Sims, another by Bill Perkins and Richie Kamuca and a further group with Gene Ammons and Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davis. This type of group iteration fell out of favour without much fanfare, as such things often do. The concept has been rejuvenated with the combination of Azar Lawrence and Al McLean for the album Frontiers issued by the Canadian label CellarLive. As for the music played on this session, in addition to several originals by the band’s front line, the majority of the tracks were penned by either John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk or Freddie Hubbard. Of equal import is the musicians themselves. Azar Lawrence is an American musician who has released a number of album under his own name, but may be best remembered as the […]