Easy to Love

This is a fairly typical set by Urbani's standards, as he leads his quartet through a nice mix of standards and originals. The saxophonist was capable of some amazing straight-ahead blowing, that sometimes was so intense it could easily be confused with an avant-garde aesthetic. Urbani made the alto saxophone his own, and he exudes an ease and fluidity not duplicated by many others. His legendary technique let him breeze through the fastest tempos. On the slower pieces, such as the lovely "Good Morning Heartache," he wrenched emotion from the horn. Here, he is backed by some leading Italian jazz players: pianist Luca Flores; bassist Furio Di Castri; and drummer Roberto Gatto. Together, this should raise the customary eyebrows, although there is not much to distinguish it from others by this jazz giant. Just some great, occasionally enthralling, hard bop from the 1980s.