Alex Sadnik: Flight
BIG EGO Records

On his follow-up to 2020's Self-Portrait Delay, Los-Angeles-based alto saxophonist Alex Sadnik does something others have done before: pays tribute to jazz royalty Charlie “Bird” Parker. He also, however, does it in a manner that's likely without precedent in featuring two units, one a chordless quartet and—wait for it—the other a country-western quintet. In truth, too much shouldn't be made of the latter: while violinist Philip Glenn and pedal steel guitarist Dave Easley do impose themselves on the material, the presence of Sadnik, double bassist Anthony Shadduck, and drummer Jay Bellerose ensures that the music never loses its jazz centre or Parker essence. The quartet featured on the album's second side—and this is very much a project designed with the LP format in mind—is solidly in the jazz lane, powered as it is by bassist Billy Mohler and drummer Tina Raymond and pairing the leader with trumpeter Kris Tiner on the front line.

Recorded on separate days in March 2022 at BIG EGO Studios in Long Beach, California (where Sadnik works with producer Chris Schlarb), Flight checks a number of Sadnik boxes, from his love of classic jazz to an eclectic sensibility receptive to fresh takes on standard forms. The project concept evolved out of pandemic-related jam sessions that saw him and others revisiting bebop classics. The alto saxophonist proceeded to transcribe Parker's solos and then build upon them daringly. Smartly, he arranged the tracks to last from four to eight minutes, making for an album whose solos are concise and whose content's substantial but not overlong.

The album's most audacious overhaul comes first, a treatment of “Donna Lee” that sees it recast as a country waltz. The sound of Sadnik and Glenn voicing the singing, serpentine theme in unison makes for a promising start and one likely to provoke a smile. The jazz and country dimensions meet head on in a terrific take on “Parker's Mood” when Glenn's intro's followed by Sadnik's bluesy riffing, his playing a solid homage to the legend. The rootsy turns by Easley and Glenn are as inspired as the altoist's but even more blues-drenched. Here and elsewhere Sadnik hews closely to Parker's originals while also liberally imposing his stamp. A case in point, “Bird of Paradise” not only replicates the dirge-like intro heard on the Parker version, it also features Sadnik playing the original solo note-for-note before moving into his own expression.

The quartet's cool and sultry update of “Yardbird Suite” indicates that the album's second side will be as rewarding as the first. With Sadnik and Tiner playing in unison and Mohler and Raymond putting down a supple groove behind them, the performance has much to recommend it; that the version includes brief solos by all four only adds to its appeal. If one didn't know better, one might mistake “Red Cross” for an early Ornette Coleman composition, so beguiling are the tune's melodies and structure. Raymond, who played on Sadnik's first album, 2019's Londelius, shows what a fabulous drummer she is when the arrangement includes a number of moments spotlighting her. She and Mohler memorably animate “Segment Diverse” too, in this case with a slinky blues-funk groove that lays a flexible foundation for intertwining statements from the horn players.

July 2023