See The Pyramid

Album Review

Walt Weiskopf's discography for the Criss Cross label has displayed a substantive and well-rounded discipline on the tenor saxophone with many larger ensembles. While peers Donny McCaslin, Chris Potter, Eric Alexander, and Harry Allen have gone into the respective routes of improvised neo-bop, progressive fusion, soul-jazz, and swing, Weiskopf mines the deep well of post-Sonny Rollins/John Coltrane mainstream modern jazz. He's also more composer than interpreter, as evidenced by the original material on this recording, and he also revisits the smaller format of sax with rhythm section, something he hadn't done in nearly 20 years. Weiskopf loves to scale hard bop mountain heights on his horn without any abrasion or slippage, as on the modal title track. Also notable is that he does not overuse technique, preferring to evoke the essential spirit of Coltrane on a hip modal "Hook Me Up" or the bossa nova-flavored "Equality," which echoes Trane's "Equinox." There's no real emphasis on rock 'em, sock 'em bebop, but instead an unforced swing and lighter tone. He does venture a bit into pop-jazz with a cover of the Chris Montez Top 40 hit "Call Me" and a bubbling version of "Make Someone Happy." With a piano-bass-drums trio led by Peter Zak on the 88s, Weiskopf has just enough energy to drive these tunes comfortably in mid-gear ratios. It's another sterling example of why he's always one of the more enjoyable tenor players on the current scene — solid, unspectacular, logical, and very substantive. ~ Michael G. Nastos, Rovi