# CD review: JD Allen – Queen City 2021: Video, CD cover

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2021/07/16/cd-review-jd-allen-queen-city-2021-video-cd-cover/
- Published: 2021-07-16T00:22:36+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**In JD Allen’s liner notes for ‘Queen City’, it becomes clear that he spent a great
deal of time during the pandemic thinking about “what to do with the time that is
given us.” The tenor saxophonist’s response to his period of introspection is this
recording, a solo saxophone program. It is a recording full of stark, uncompromising
power, affording some rare insight into the psyche of the performer.**

This is not a Coleman Hawkins’ “Picasso”-toned, I-love-my-horn-and-my-horn-loves-
me type of symbiosis. There is a real sense of confrontation between Allen and his
horn and the audience which makes for a unique listening experience. This is not
to imply that ‘Queen City’ is some severe piece of avant garde abrasiveness. Rather,
it encompasses an extraordinarily wide-range of musical languages which communicates
an equally broad spectrum of emotions. Melodies of ravishing beauty alternate with
angular, aggressive phrases to express frustration, anger, resolve, hope, love and
acceptance in what may become one of the most personal and revealing recordings 
to come out of the trying time of Covid-19.

In the notes Allen writes, “Performing music for and with people is what I do and
I’ve come to the realization that an audience of listeners of any size is a part
of the music; it’s also a shared experience. Covid-19 changed that and forced me
to try to remember why I started playing in the first place, the years before I 
started performing and recording.”

 1.  Three Little Words (2:56)
 2.  Wildwood Flower (4:40)
 3.  Maude (2:05)
 4.  O.T.R. (2:59)
 5.  Retrograde (2:42)
 6.  Gem and Eye (2:44)
 7.  Mother (2:01)
 8.  Queen City (3:52)
 9.  Vernetta (2:30)
 10. Kristian with a K (3:56)
 11. Nyla’s Sky (2:48)
 12. Just a Gigolo (3:18)
 13. These Foolish Things (3:41)

**JD Allen solo tenor sax**

![JD Allen: Queen City (Savant) - JazzTimes](https://i0.wp.com/cdn2.jazztimes.com/
2021/07/4-JD-Allen-Queen-City-HI-RES-Cover.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)

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