By Marilyn Lester***When Adolphe Sax invented the saxophone in the early 1840s he did so because he thought the bands and orchestras of the day were missing an important sound quality. The new instrument was definitely not well-received. Flash forward 60 or 70 years to the beginning of the 
jazz band, and the sax truly found its home in musical majesty. And as it developed, the sax’s possibilities expanded in variants from the toy-like sopranisimo to the giant contrabass. But it’s the familiar tenor model in which a legion of truly great jazz stars have made their name: Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Stan Getz, Wayne Shorter, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane. The list goes on.
And so the tenor sax and its heritage was honored in the Jazz in July program at 92NY entitled Tenors of Our Time, with four star players of today: Melissa Aldana, Chris Lewis, Walter Smith III and the venerable Lew Tabackin. Jazz in July Artistic Director, Aaron Diehl, provided support in the rhythm section along with bassist Yasushi 
Nakamura and drummer Kush Abadey. As the program spun out, the players appeared solo and in various combinations, beginning with the quartet performing “Tenor Conclave,” arranged with harmonies, call-and-response, tradeoffs and spotlight moments, all dancing around the bop tradition. Aldana, Smith and Lewis favor post-bop forms, while Tabackin has been known for his distinctive hard bop style, a bluesy form of bop that’s a component of the amalgam of post-bop. While the distinctions may seem somewhat opaque, the resultant sound emerged brightly swinging—a superb testament to the power of the instrument and its capabilities.
“A Story,” a solo with Aldana in a Latin mode came next, with Lewis taking the spotlight on “Kid’s Know” and Smith in a solo turn on the gently swinging, melodic and popular jazz standard, Gigi Gryce’s “Social Call.” In the realm of duets, there was Aldana and Smith on “Contrafact,” and “Turnaround” with Smith and Tabackin. The tune has a melodic theme around 
which the two improved, but the fun in this feature was watching Tabackin swing. He’s literally a full-bodied player who leans into the music, with spontaneous choreography of dance to boot. He’ll raise a knee, perform a slight kick or produce a variation of movement as he powers through a piece. That dynamic was, of course, also in play as Tabackin dueted with Lewis on “Hanid.”
A very high point of the evening came with Tabackin pairing with Aldana on the American songbook standard, Richard Whiting’s “My Ideal.” The tune is a well-recognized ballad (and the first big hit for Whiting’s daughter, vocalist Margaret). It’s long been noted that one of the reasons that the tenor became so important in jazz is that is has a distinctive voice. Both players exploited this quality 
by developing the number as a conversation, with strong “monologues” and give-and-take conversation. The effect was not only creatively wondrous, but brought the audience to its feet in delight.
Tabackin moved into the solo spotlight on the penultimate number of the program with “Gloria.” Throughout the set, the rhythm section had their individual features among the numbers, and, or course, collectively provided first-rate support to the sax players. In this presentation, it was Diehl’s turn to shine, working in perfect tandem with the master, Tabackin, who rose like cream to the top of a sweet and tasty evening of tenor love. Playout was a very swinging, energetic and happy-making “Lover” by all hands.
Photos by Richard Termine
