# CD review: Steve Lehman – The People I Love 2019: Video, CD cover

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2019/08/16/cd-review-steve-lehman-the-people-i-love-2019-video-cd-cover/
- Published: 2019-08-16T14:24:11+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**Hailed by The New York Times as “a state-of-the-art musical thinker” and “a quietly
dazzling saxophonist,” Steve Lehman has built a career creating innovative, uncompromising
music that packs a visceral wallop. His signature alto sound – searing with emotional
intensity and crystal clear articulation – has been featured in high-profile partnerships
with Vijay Iyer, Jason Moran, and Bennie Maupin. **

But at just 40-years-old, his greatest musical achievements have been his many critically-
acclaimed, groundbreaking projects, which have run the gamut from Senegalese hip-
hop (Selebeyone (Pi 2017)) to French spectral music (Travail, Transformation and
Flow (Pi 2009), Mise en Abîme (Pi 2014)). With his latest album, The People I Love,
Lehman revisits his jazz roots, presenting his take on the classic alto saxophone
quartet tradition. It’s a modern day referendum on the possibilities for that time-
worn configuration for 2019 and beyond.

Much has been made of Lehman’s early apprenticeships under Jackie McLean and Anthony
Braxton. While those references continue to remain essential, there are other figures
who also loom large: “As far as the classic alto saxophone quartet, Bird, and then
of course all the records Jackie McLean did with Cedar Walton and McCoy Tyner are
really big for me. And then Anthony Braxton and his “Willisau”… Much has been made
of Lehman’s early apprenticeships under Jackie McLean and Anthony Braxton. While
those references continue to remain essential, there are other figures who also 
loom large: “As far as the classic alto saxophone quartet, Bird, and then of course
all the records Jackie McLean did with Cedar Walton and McCoy Tyner are really big
for me. And then Anthony Braxton and his “Willisau” quartet with Marilyn Crispell.
But also Kenny Garrett’s “Songbook” group. That’s kind of the blueprint I was working
from, before trying to put my own stamp on it and move it forward.”

The title for The People I Love comes from a 2010 interview with vibraphonist Bobby
Hutcherson, a longtime friend and collaborator of Lehman’s primary mentor, Jackie
McLean:
 When I was younger, I thought music came first. And now that I’ve gotten
older, I realize it’s only a reflection of the images of the people I love and being
with God.

Longstanding musical partnerships and close friendships have always been at the 
center of Lehman’s recordings. And the music on The People I Love is no exception.
2019 marks the 10-year anniversary of Lehman’s trio with drummer Damion Reid (Robert
Glasper Trio) and bassist Matt Brewer (SF Jazz, Gonzalo Rubalcaba), and their telepathic
interplay and stop-on-a-dime maneuvers define the feeling of the album from start
to finish. Their debut recording, Dialect Fluorescent (Pi 2012), was voted to the
Top 10 spot in the NPR Jazz Critics Poll. Since then, the musical relationship between
the three has only become more profound and wide-ranging. Lehman has added pianist
Craig Taborn — whom the New York Times Magazine describes as “one of the best jazz
pianists alive” and “an ethereal genius” — to this mix. He and Lehman also share
a deep musical connection that is over a decade old. “Craig is one of the most brilliant
musicians of his generation. We’ve been friends for a long time; played duo in acoustic
and electronic settings, and talked for hours about everything under the sun. I 
don’t think there’s anyone out there more in sync with my overall musical aesthetic.”

The Lehman “stamp” often comes in the form of compositions that can seem impossibly
complex, but there’s something new here: This isn’t music that makes hay out of 
difficult execution or an unusually demanding practice regimen. On the contrary,
even the most intricate and involved passages on The People I Love feel effortless
and of a piece with a larger expression of emotional intensity. “Ih Calam & Ynnus,”
for example, may be a meticulously crafted minefield of shifting meters and changing
tempi, but it’s Lehman and Taborn’s emotional soloing that ultimately carries the
day.

Much of the repertoire on The People I Love is designed to make a bold statement
about the state of modern Jazz in 2019. New classics by Kurt Rosenwinkel (“A Shifting
Design”) and Kenny Kirkland (“Chance”) from the 1980s and 1990s take the place of
tried and true standards. And Lehman and his quartet apply a glitchy, modernist 
sheen to “The Impaler” by Jeff “Tain” Watts just as easily as they re-imagine “qPlay,”
a piece of 2000-era electronica by Autechre. Lehman also revisits several works 
from his own repertoire, including “Curse Fraction” and “Beyond All Limits.” His
composition “Echoes”, originally recorded on Travail, Transformation & Flow (New
York Times #1 Jazz Album of 2009), is reconfigured here, and features a handful 
of virtuosic piano gestures that cascade in and around Lehman’s piercing alto solo.

The album is punctuated by three duo improvisations between Lehman and Taborn, who
manage to interact in a way that feels authentic and heartfelt while staying utterly
contemporary. And here again, Lehman makes a statement; demonstrating intimate familiarity
with 60 years of experimental saxophone vocabulary – from Eric Dolphy and Anthony
Braxton to Arthur Blythe and Evan Parker – and making a compelling case for its 
integration into a modern-day concept of the classic alto saxophone quartet album.

The People I Love is a record that bears witness to a new openness in Lehman’s music.
Unedited rehearsal tapes (“A Shifting Design”) and joyous laughter at the end of
a take are all left on the track — inviting the listener to take a look behind the
curtain at where the music comes from. The result may be his most mature artistic
statement to date.

**Tracks**
 1. Prelude 1:41 2. Ih Calam and Ynnus 5:55 3. Curse Fraction 5:14 4.
qPlay 4:24 5. Interlude 1:05 6. A Shifting Design 3:58 7. Beyond All Limits 7:53
8. Echoes / The Impaler 5:13 9. Chance 5:31 10. Postlude 0:55

**Steve Lehman – alto saxophone **
 **Craig Taborn – piano ** **Matt Brewer – acoustic
bass ** **Damion Reid – drum set**

![Image result for Steve Lehman - The People I Love](https://i0.wp.com/f4.bcbits.
com/img/a1519720533_10.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)

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