Eric Alexander: Chicago to New York

CELLAR MUSIC (RELEASED APRIL 4, 2025)

In 2023, tenor saxophonist turned to the alto sax for his sublime recording with strings — New Beginnings. With Chicago To New York, he adds the soprano sax to his arsenal for two tunes. Not surprisingly, those tunes are associated with John Coltrane — Mongo Santamaria’s “Afro Blue” and Coltrane’s “Wise One.” Alexander’s approach to the soprano is very much like his tenor sound — fiery, bold and fluent. On “Afro Blue,” Alexander’s technical mastery is matched with strong percussive playing from pianist Mike LeDonne, the rock steady bass of Dennis Carroll and the flexible drumming of George Fludas. LeDonne opens “Wise One: with a Tynerish introduction that leads to Alexander’s explosive solo which is packed with his trademarked swirls, sweeps and swoops. The intensity of those opening tunes continues as Alexander switches to tenor for up-tempo romps through standards such as “This is Always,” “The Lamp is Low,” “Angel Eyes” and the classic Gene Ammons’ blues “Hittin’ the Jug.” Alexander, Carroll and Fludas get an opportunity to slow things down with a short and sweet trio take on “Only The Lonely.” Although Carroll and Fludas manage to set and/or keep up the pace throughout this lively session, Alexander and LeDonne tend to dominate the solos, which are full of passion and flair. Alexander chose the title of this release to reflect the makeup of the band — two New York City transplants (himself and LeDonne) and two Chicagoans (Carroll and Fludas). According to the promotional material, the recording’s repertoire provides Alexander and company with excellent improvisatory vehicles with which to skillfully traverse the 800-miless that separate these two great American jazz cities. I just wish they would have slowed down a bit to enjoy the beauty of the tunes they navigated along the way.

BOTTOM LINE: The fact that the shortest track (less than three minutes) on Chicago To New York is the only slow ballad on the session gives you an indication of what to expect — a hard-driving blowing session, and few blow stronger than saxophonist Eric Alexander who appears on tenor and soprano on a set that includes selections by John Coltrane, Matt Dennis, Mongo Santamaria and others.