The latest releases reviewed
It's a tribute to his talent that Watkis could assemble a heavyweight New York cast - Steve Wilson (alto/soprano), Darren Barrett (trumpet), Reuben Rogers (bass) and Lewis Nash (drums) - for this striking debut recording as leader. The Londoner is a fine pianist and a gifted composer, and though his music belongs to the 1950s of Blue Note and Horace Silver, albeit with some contemporary elements, its freshness owes as much to his writing as to the group he leads. His compositions are well developed, full of character, with sequences the soloists clearly find congenial, and played by a quintet that could be taken for a working group. Wilson is inspirational and Nash is simply one of the best drummers around, and they, and the band, turn in notable performances on Fuchsia Song, The Judgement and A Summer Evening Dream. www.musicconnection.org.uk RAY COMISKEY
This is the second live recording from New York's Jazz Standard by the veteran alto saxophonist, and if Morgan's playing has lost a little mobility, the Parker flame still burns brightly. It's his natural habitat, underlined by the repertoire. Confirmation, Half Nelson, Hot House and Billie's Bounce are original bop era staples, while On Green Dolphin Street isn't a world removed from it. In George Cables (piano), Curtis Lundy (bass) and Billy Hart (drums), Morgan has a rhythm section to accommodate his style; they, as much as anything, constitute a factor in the feelgood atmosphere that permeates the playing, with Cables, especially, in fine form. The alto saxophonist can still call on the tart unsentimentality of the style, and deliver a blues like Billie's Bounce with authority, but time has alchemised it into something more mellow. http://uk.hmboutique.com RAY COMISKEY
Hayati Kafe, Turkish expat and longtime Swedish resident, is one of the best-known singers on the Scandinavian jazz scene, with a long list of associations at the highest level. Surprisingly, he's not so well known elsewhere. Kafe has a rich, full voice you could warm your hands on. He knows how to handle himself in a jazz group, he swings hard and sings in a direct, uncomplicated manner, treating the lyrics with respect. Here, Kafe wraps his voice around 14 old favourites from the Great American Songbook, with superb support from Jan Lundgren (piano), Jacob Fischer (guitar) and Jesper Lundgaard (bass). Collectively, the trio generates such momentum, light but unmistakeably powerful, that drums are not missed, and Kafe surfs deftly, with very evident pleasure, on the plush musical carpet they lay out for him. Aficionados should love it. www.cdon.com RAY COMISKEY
