Frank Morgan - Reflections

High Note 7154

The story of Frank Morgan is a familiar one to followers of Fifties jazz: a promising prodigy-like start stymied by a spiral into heroin addiction and incarceration that would swallow the next three decades of his life. Morgan kicked his habit in the mid-80s, signing to Contemporary and initiating a second coming that still continues today. I caught him at last year's Minneapolis Hot Summer Jazz Festival and came away disheartened by what I'd heard: a player with obvious chops and regality of bearing largely going through motions on bromidic material like "Suicide is Painless." This new studio effort restores my faith in Morgan's faculties, placing him in front of a highly compatible rhythm section for set of eight senescent standards. There aren't any jolting surprises in terms of songbook or strategy, but the saxophonist turns in a winning performance on potency of personality alone.

The most immediately noticeable facet is the smoothness of leader's tone and fluidity of his phrasing. The Morgan of the Eighties had more of a piquant and at times even biting attack, something similar to a mingling of later Art Pepper and Sonny Criss with a nucleus of Bird. Here, he shapes lines with an almost Desmond-derived softness and translucency. The approach isn't as effective on more uptempo pieces like the opening "Walkin'" where Morgan sacrifices nuance for sometimes wobbly speed, but on the ballads his choice yields persuasive returns. The sharp contours "Monk's Mood" and "Blue Monk", tunes carrying the obfuscating ink of countless mimeographed covers, bend beautifully to his airy improvisations. "Love Story," a song of Seventies cinematic ancestry, is similarly rejuvenated under the ministrations of his lilting horn. Pianist Ronnie Matthews and drummer Billy Hart serve up veteran support, while bassist Essiet Essiet, the pup of the quartet, plucks confidently as the reliable harmonic rudder. Hart, in particular, is a responsive wonder, his various opportunities to trade fours with the leader generating excitement without brow-beating the listener with needless flamboyancy.

It's easy to envision the surly "Jazz is Dead" contingent swiftly slandering this set as evidence of their contentious claims. That verdict is applicable only if one narrowly measures vitality with innovation. Either way, Morgan still has plenty of pep and perspicacity. The quiet dignity of these performances proves it.

~ Derek Taylor