Dave O’Higgins is the latest in a line of fine home-grown saxophonists to burst forth on the UK and international jazz scene over the past five years. Although I have not heard a lot of O’Higgins’s work, he comes across on this CD as a thoroughly well-rounded player on both tenor and soprano.
Six of the compositions are from his pen and all possess well-constructed themes with my favourites being Forgone, Don’t Say Anything and Beats Working. These half-dozen tracks are by a quintet which includes vibes player Joe Locke in the line-up and his presence in the ensembles adds a greater fullness to the proceedings, as well as contributing additional solo interest.
The aforementioned Forgone has a gentle swing about it and on his solo excursion, O’Higgins’s tenor sustains its full, rich tone right across the range. The leader is equally at home on the soprano as he demonstrates on a relaxed, haunting piece which he calls Don’t Say Anything.
The vibes are absent on Alone and Sound Of Love; the former is the familiar standard and the latter was written by Charles Mingus. O’Higgins gives a beautiful, reflective performance on the Mingus composition, his tenor caressing the pretty theme and gently exploring its harmonies.
On the strength of this excellent album O’Higgins comes across as a fluent performer on both tenor and soprano and seems set to rise to the top. Assuming he isn’t there already.
Discography
(1) Alone Together; (2) Send For Igor; The Brood; Moving Swiftly On; Forgone Conclusion; Don’t Say Anything; Beats Working For A Living; (1) Duke Ellington’s Sound Of Love (53.13)
(1) Dave O’Higgins (ss, ts); Joey Calderazzo (p); James Genus (b); Adam Nussbaum (d). New York City, January 12, 1994.
(2) as above plus Joe Locke (vib). Same session.
(EFZ 1009)
