Larry McKenna Archive

Sam Taylor Quartet – Along The Way –  CellarLive

Sam Taylor Quartet – Along The Way –  CellarLive

Sam Taylor Quartet – Along The Way –  CellarLive CL050217 55:33*** A tale of two tenors ( Sam Taylor – tenor saxophone; Larry McKenna – tenor saxophone 1,2,6,7,9; Jeb Patton – piano; Neal Miner – acoustic bass; Peter Van Nostrand- drums) Firstly, just in case it is not patently obvious, this Sam Taylor is not The Sam “The Man” Taylor, the American jazz and blues tenor saxophonist who famously used “honking” in his solos during his heyday in the 1950s and 60s. This Sam Taylor is a young Philadelphia native who is looking to find his niche in today’s tenor saxophone world. Perhaps that is the reason he hooked up with Larry McKenna ,the eighty year old tenor sax legend from the same city to record Along The Way for the Canadian label CellarLive. This album is really two sessions. There are the five tracks with Larry McKenna and the four without his participation, and the contrast is significant. Taylor is just beginning his career, putting in the hours and developing his tone and ideas. At eighty, McKenna has done all that and although he may not have achieved the recognition he deserved, he is no less the player because […]