Highnote
2008
Prime Time
About This Album
This double-disc package from Eric Alexander contains a live date by his quartet in 2007 at the Diana Wortham Theater, in Asheville, NC. The program contains mostly originals by either the saxophonist or his pianist David Hazeltine. Bassist John Webber and drummer Joe Farnsworth round out this excellent band, and the performance is simply electrifying. This band communicates deeply and widely, moving from lyric to modal improvisation at every turn. The dialogue between Alexander and Hazeltine is symbiotic, crossing harmonic paths and building on them whether it's a blues, such as the opening tune "Blues Like," Leonard Bernstein's "Some Other Time," or "We All Love Eddie Harris," by Hazeltine, in which a Latin groove by the rhythm section evolves into a funky one and then gets stretched into a free flowing exercise in funky harmonic invention. The groove is constant, there are no lulls, and what's happening on the stand is what makes jazz itself magical: fluid exchanges of complex ideas turned into what appears simple and easy. For the listener, the sound of the gig with its raw immediacy, kinetic energy, and confident interplay is nothing less than a complete delight as these players all challenge one another while remaining committed to the flow of the ensemble.
Track List

Disc 1 (try tracks 1,4,6 and 7)

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Disc 2

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