Eric Alexander - Fifth Quadrant (Vinyl LP)

Eric Alexander Fifth Quadrant on LP

Tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander makes his Smoke Sessions Records debut as a leader with Fifth Quadrant, featuring a new quartet with pianist Cyrus Chestnut, bassist Nat Reeves, and drummer Carl Allen. Alexander first heard Reeves and Allen together with Jackie McLean at the Village Vanguard in the late ’80s and has wanted to work with that rhythm team ever since. Decades later, the opportunity finally came together, with Chestnut bringing his soulful, powerful approach reminiscent of Alexander’s longtime mentor and collaborator Harold Mabern. The result is a quartet rooted in the deep tradition of hard-swinging, soulful jazz, but fully alive in the present.

The album’s program moves freely across the American Songbook, pairing Alexander originals with standards and unexpected selections. The title track is a hard-charging minor blues born from an overtone exercise Alexander used with his students. Chestnut’s soulful arrangement of Stevie Wonder’s “Ribbon in the Sky” transforms the pop classic into a tender yet scintillating quartet performance. Other highlights include the wistful Rodgers & Hammerstein standard “It Might as Well Be Spring,” the emotionally charged “Don’t Misunderstand,” and “One Hundred Ways,” Quincy Jones’ sophisticated 1981 hit.