feature photo: Anna Yatskevich
Now in his 20th year as a member of Steely Dan’s touring band, tenor sax maestro Walt Weiskopf has always found time to advance his own solo career as a composer and bandleader, making a long string of quality straight jazz albums stretching back to 1989. He’s also taken his own show on the road, and as a veteran of many European tours, he’s come across a talented group of unheralded dudes from Denmark with whom he formed a new quartet in 2017.
In Carl Winther (piano), Andreas Lang (bass) and Anders Mogensen (drums), Weiskopf found a very capable trio to not just carry out his vision of post-bop and modern jazz, but make it sound even better…much as Keith Jarrett’s own European Quartet of the 70’s did much to enhance Jarrett’s own approach.
Once they got started, Weiskopf and his cohorts have been on a torrid pace of making music. Diamonds and Other Jewels (August 19 2022, AMM Records) will be their sixth release; that’s right, including a Christmas EP they have produced nearly an album a year.
The quantity has done absolutely nothing to diminish the quality. Putting an ear on “Spartacus” is discovering a traditional, hard-bop tune with the freshness of today. Not just because Walt Weiskopf put together a snappy tune, but the tightness of the combo is strongly felt, starting with Mogensen’s fire from the drum kit. “Black Diamond” is a swinging waltz and the tenor man knives right through the changes with a lot of agility. Weiskopf’s gift for a pretty melody comes to the fore on “Other Jewels,” where he and Winther shrewdly play understated and let that strain shine through.
“Thad Nation,” dedicated to composing and arranging great Thad Jones, has all the suave swing that Jones’ big band with Mel Lewis was known for. Beginning and ending with a charming, floating motif, the gently swinging main segment serves as a platform for Weiskopf’s considerable chops.
“My Old Flame” is the only standard here, where Weiskopf shows complete mastery and saves the best for end, a show-stopping note run that stays faithful to the song and in keeping with the pre-Coltrane old saxophone greats like Parker and Gordon. By contrast,
“Blood Diamond” has that shuffle Trane often used in the ’60s – Mogensen is terrific in an Elvin Jones state of mind – but with Weiskopf’s own contemplative approach.
Backed by ace Euro jazz cats, Walt Weiskopf provides even more impetus for keeping up with his new recordings. Diamonds and Other Jewels presents his European quartet emerging from the pandemic with its coherence at an all-time high.
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