Am Frankfurter Tor (bandcamp link) by Anna Kaluza and Jan Roder.*
The alto saxophone carries so much baggage in the “Jazz” idiom it sort of scares me. From Johnny Hodges to Charlie Parker to Lee Konitz to John Zorn, there is no escaping that instrument’s weight and history as a key melodic and textural component in the sound of modern Jazz and improvised music.
Playing the alto sax in Jazz Music is like playing the Electric Guitar in Rock Music.
You better either be really, really good or do something so interesting that you aren’t competing.
Somehow, Anna Kaluza is both really, really good at the alto sax and a fascinating player.
Ms Kaluza’s sax playing so deftly skirts back and forth from melodic bebop-ish lines to free-er expressionism while Mr Roder complements and urges her forward. Just an all around pleasurable album to listen to. (It’s been in the rotation all summer!)
Credits:
Anna Kaluza – alto saxophone
Jan Roder – double bass
*Am Frankfurter Tor was sent to me by Relative Pitch Records.
