Esensja (PL) 16-02-2024

JazzNuEnglish translation:Susanne Alt met klassiek groove-geluid als van fluweelSusanne Alt, alto saxophonist, DJ, and composer, delivers an album with 'Royalty for Real' that would fit well in the heyday of instrumental funk jazz. The sound of the Fender Rhodes, combined with melodic grooves on the alto saxophone, brings to mind Bob James with David Sanborn or Andrey Chmut.Alt lives in Amsterdam but was born in Germany. Initially, she studied classical saxophone and won the Siemens Prize for young talent in 1996. Her first CD, Nocturne, showcases those classical influences. She moved to the Netherlands to study jazz saxophone in Hilversum and Amsterdam. She was one of the first musicians to enliven Amsterdam's nightlife by performing live with DJs. Now, her own DJ sets are an important part of her work, alongside playing with her quartet, session work, and collaborations with DJs and groups such as Fred Wesley, Hardsoul, and Wicked Jazz Sounds.'Royalty for Real' is now her sixth studio album. It was therefore somewhat surprising to find little information about it on the online jazz channels. Alt is clearly a perseverant artist with three conservatory studies under her belt and multiple self-produced CDs to her name. That may be rectified in the future, and then we can ask her how she managed to record an album with the rhythm section of Roy Hargrove. The royalty referenced in the title is trumpeter Roy Hargrove, to whom the CD is dedicated.It turns out that Susanne Alt did not sit idle during the lockdown period. In February 2022, she spent a few days in the New York Eastside Sound Studio with pianist James Hurt, double bassist Gerald Cannon, and drummer Willie Jones III. The finishing touches were later applied in Sapphire Studio in Amsterdam, The Hague, and New Jersey.The opening track, Roy Allan, is by Hargrove. Jazz enthusiasts know Hargrove for his hard bop or ballads on the flugelhorn. He was a beloved session musician and recorded extensively, solo, with his quintet, and with his Roy Hargrove Big Band. Additionally, there are countless recordings with others, including Manhattan Projects, Erykah Badu, Jimmy Griffin, and many others. He contributed to the first album of Buckshot Lefonque and toured and recorded with D'Angelo.Susanne Alt knows him personally from his performances at the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Hague. There, she met him and played together during the legendary jam sessions at the Bel Air Hotel. It left a lasting impression on her. Besides Hargrove's musicality, Alt praises his openness and positive demeanor in a radio interview. She learned from him that it's important to give each other space, listen to one another, and, when appropriate, dare to compliment each other during jam sessions. That can be hard to find in the macho music world. Hargrove passed away at the age of 49 from a hereditary disease, but he left behind a rich legacy, to which this tribute can now be added.The album lasts about 45 minutes and is divided into seven tracks. Besides the opening track Roy Allan (Hargrove) and The Nearness of You (Hoagy Carmichael), Alt wrote all the titles. Blue Notes & Fairy Tales, the second track, brings a change in tempo but remains consistent in melody and approach with the first track. It is a funky groove played on the alto saxophone over a bed of Fender Rhodes, drums with plenty of cymbal work, and additional percussion. The double bass is subtly mixed deep into the piano sounds. The main role is reserved for the saxophone.In Bel Air Bop (a nod to North Sea The Hague), the Fender is replaced by a grand piano. Georgie Fame would know what to do with the melody and would immediately come up with lyrics for it. After the sax solo, a 'classic' piano solo by James Hurt follows. Hurt is a seasoned jazz pianist who has worked with Abbey Lincoln, among others. The drum solo follows, showing that drummer Willie Jones III is not just anyone. He toured with Horace Silver, Herbie Hancock, and... with Roy Hargrove. Double bassist Gerald Cannon has played with greats like Art Blakey and was part of Hargrove's rhythm section with Willie Jones III for some time. In short, Alt is well surrounded here. Nevertheless, she stands her ground as the leading performer.The track Classy Cats could also be called Classy Scats. It invites you to sing along with the long, flowing saxophone lines. The Nearness of You was a favorite ballad of Hargrove. He often played ballads on his flugelhorn, and it is evident that Alt was inspired by his sound. The saxophone here sounds with full, warm notes like velvet.Royalty for Real has become an attractive and balanced album with an almost classic groove sound that fits a calmer time. Several tracks could easily work as a theme tune for a television program.A male American trumpeter serves as inspiration for a female saxophonist who originally studied classical music in Germany. It remains remarkable that the spark can jump across the world again and again, as long as one musician is open to the other. Royalty for real!MONICA RIJPMA - EsensjaTranslation:European soul, American flair[Susanne Alt's Royalty for Real - review]Seventh album recorded by the German jazz saxophonist Susanne Alt, based in Amsterdam, is also the first she recorded in the United States, with American musicians, no less. As it turns out, it was an excellent choice. The tracks on Royalty for Real are refined post-bop in an American style, but enhanced with European nostalgia.Alt. Susanne Alt! If you carry such a name and become a jazz musician, what instrument can/should you choose? And though it's probably hard to consider it the most important reason, it so happened that the German chose to become a saxophonist. An alto saxophonist. She was born in Würzburg, Bavaria, in 1978, but for many years now, she has been associated with... Amsterdam. She moved there as an eighteen-year-old after completing her saxophone studies at the Conservatory in Nuremberg (1993-1996). She chose the Netherlands for a reason; she wanted to continue her education. With the Siemens Award for young talents to her credit, she could easily enroll in the Amsterdam Conservatory, where she expanded her knowledge for the next four years (1996-2000). But that wasn't the end. In 2000, she briefly returned to Germany, this time to the capital, to enroll at the Berlin University of Fine Arts (2000-2003). Susanne's drive to expand knowledge and skills is truly extraordinary.With another diploma in hand, she moved back to Amsterdam and has been living there ever since. She immediately began designing her career. She formed a band (her Quartet included pianist Thijs Cuppen, bassist Sven Schuster, and drummer Klaas Van Donkersgoed) and her own record label (Venus Tunes). With the Quartet, she released four albums: Nocturne (2004), Delight (2007), On Track (2009), and the live album Live at Bimhuis (2011). On the last two, a new member, Philippe Lemm, played drums. At this point, Alt concluded that she had already established her brand in the Western European market to such an extent that she could dispense with the last part of the group's name. She dropped the Quartet, leaving only her first name and last name. The transition – or perhaps the hiatus? – between old and new times was marked by her participation in the recording of the album Temudgin (2011), where she supported the Adrián Escamilla Quartet with her talent.Later, she mainly operated on her own. She recorded the album How to Kiss (2012) with all the musicians from the Quartet (Cuppen, Schuster, Lemm), but she also invited several other artists to collaborate (including organist Thijs Van Leer from the legendary progressive group Focus). It was a new beginning. A new, expanded format. While working on Saxify (2016), about dozens of people – instrumentalists and vocalists – passed through the studio. The undertaking was admirable but also exhausting and costly. Perhaps for this reason, when preparing to record another album, Susanne decided to return to her earlier experiences and play in a chamber lineup. To avoid repeating patterns, this time she decided the album would be produced in New York and recorded with local jazz musicians. Thus, on February 15 and 16, 2022, she entered the EastSide Sound studio, a regular spot for John Zorn.In assembling the new lineup, Alt reached for musicians who may not be globally famous but are fantastic artists in their specialties. They include keyboardist James Hurt (formerly played with saxophonist Abraham Burton, trumpeter Duane Eubanks, percussionists Rashied Alim, and Adam Rudolph), bassist Gerald Cannon (known for collaboration with pianist Anthony Wonsey, trombonist Steve Davis, drummer Shingo Okudaira, and on stage supporting, among others, the legendary Elvin Jones, the drummer of John Coltrane's quartet), and drummer Willie Jones III (whose payroll is so long that studying it would take at least a few hours). There is no doubt that Susanne Alt chose top-notch instrumentalists. And this is evident in every track on the Royalty for Real album. If the transatlantic journey was to bring a new quality to the German's music, that's exactly what happened. The album is soaked in the spirit of American jazz from the 50s and 60s, with influences of hard and post-bop. And it was provided, to the greatest extent, by Hurt, Cannon, and Jones III.To open the album, the German chose a composition not hers but from the repertoire of the late American trumpeter Roy Hargrove (1969-2018). Roy Allan originally appeared on his mid-90s album Family. The opening features a predatory-sounding double bass, soon covered by layered post-bop saxophone tracks – alto and tenor – and the background filled with the moody Fender piano. It's worth noting right away that James Hurt not only serves as an accompanist on Royalty for Real but also as a soloist. So, he is de facto the second character in the band, often standing out in the foreground. In Roy Allan, his slightly funky solo separates two parts of Susanne, where the artist delights the ears with an exceptionally melodic passage. Equally memorable is the saxophone leitmotif adorning Blue Notes & Fairy Tales, driving an excellent dialogue between Alt and Hurt. From this, in turn, emerges an exciting showcase on the electric piano, accompanied by an intense rhythm section.Rue Lepic is one of the most famous streets in Paris's Montmartre. And that's the title of her next composition. What a beautiful piece! It unfolds unhurriedly, with an optimistic saxophone line and subtle Fender piano in the background. The charm of the main theme is further emphasized by the airy flute, with which Alt joins James, who is weaving his story. In the background are Gerald Cannon and Willie Jones III (supported by percussionist Robert Glass), but it is they who give this piece its nostalgic sway. Bel Air Bop, on the other hand, is a lively, classic post-bop number with a saxophone accompanied, this time, by an acoustic piano. Hurt, in this case, has his hands full; he not only supports Susanne and then plays a solo part, but also, when Jones III's drums take center stage, he takes over rhythmic duties for him. Energy is also not lacking in the funky Classy Cats, where inspirations from the 50s and 60s are clearly revived. The difference is that instead of an acoustic piano, Hurt sits down again at the electric piano. The prominently featured, looped percussion provides the perfect backdrop for another saxophone showcase by Susanne.A surprise may be the inclusion of Hoagy Carmichael's song The Nearness of You in the album's repertoire – with lyrics by Ned Washington – which was commissioned by Paramount Studios in 1937.Originally, it was supposed to be part of the soundtrack for the film Romance in the Rough, but that... never came to be. Three years later, the composition fell into the hands of Glenn Miller, who recorded it with his orchestra and vocalist Ray Eberle. The single turned out to be a great success, and the piece thus grew into a jazz standard. The version recorded by Susanne Alt is, of course, devoid of vocals, but this in no way diminishes its nostalgic beauty. The fact that it lasts a whopping eight and a half minutes only adds to its value. It is indeed one of the most beautiful eight minutes I've heard this year on a jazz artist's album (although the competition, even though it's just the beginning of the year, is considerable). For the finale, the German chose the title track – energetic, somewhat swinging, with a dominant saxophone and ethereal flute, and a delicately plunking electric piano in the background.In summary: The trip to New York paid off for the artist from Amsterdam. I don't know if Royalty for Real will open the American market for her, but she certainly has a good chance to make a mark on it – at least in her niche. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed!Lineup:Susanne Alt – alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, flute (3,7), percussion instruments, music (2-5,7)James Hurt – electric piano (1-3,5,7), piano (4,6)Gerald Cannon – double bassWillie Jones III – drumsFeaturing:Robert Glass – percussion instruments (3,5)