Renewal (Remastered)

Arnie Lawrence worked with a host of jazz all-stars prior to the making of this 1981 studio session for Palo Alto, but the saxophonist has made relatively few recordings as a leader and, evidently, none since this album. Primarily playing alto sax, he makes a delayed entrance following a long introduction to "Lover Man" by pianist Ram Ramirez (who is also its composer), while his unusual floating introduction to "Poinciana" is beautifully improvised. "Treat Style" is an intriguing blues written by Jimmy Garrison (John Coltrane's bassist), featuring Lawrence's soulful alto sax. Lawrence switches to soprano sax on two tracks. The exotic "Liza Is Her Name" features both Billy Hart and Chico Hamilton (the latter who employed Lawrence on a number of his own albums) on drums and Mike Richmond's distorted arco bass, which almost suggests a didgeridoo. His interpretation of "My Foolish Heart" captures its bittersweet essence perfectly. There is only one problem with this recording: the excessive reverb used on the piano muddies the sound a bit, but there's nothing wrong with any of the performances. Long after the demise of Palo Alto, this recommended date was finally reissued by Quicksilver on CD.