Shades of Brown

Although nearing his 80th birthday by the time this early-2007 session was issued near the end of the same year, tenor saxophonist Ted Brown hasn't recorded extensively as a leader. A onetime student of Lennie Tristano, he mastered the pianist's intricate reworkings of standards, though he eventually returned to a more straight-ahead approach to his instrument, becoming a descendant of Lester Young's playing style. With support from guitarist Steve Lamattina (making one of his first appearances on a widely distributed jazz CD) and veteran bassist Dennis Irwin, Brown possesses a light tone and consistently swings in these cool performances, with the rhythm section also playing at a low volume level, making for a relaxing date. Yet, Brown is very much his own man and not a "repeating pencil" trying to re-create Young's work, much like Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, and other cool-toned saxophonists who paid their dues during the 1950s. There isn't a piece on the session that's less than a half-century old, but Brown and his mates make each of them sound fresh. "Cherokee," "This Can't Be Love," and "You Go to My Head" are just a few of the highlights of this rewarding CD.