Reviews: Jazz discs from Branford Marsalis Quartet, Charlie Hunter Trio

Publication: Buffalo.com
Author: Jeff Simon
Date: June 7, 2015

Branford Marsalis Quartet, “A Love Supreme: Live in Amsterdam” (Okeh/Marsalis Music, disc plus DVD). A celebration of jazz history that is, itself, a remarkable bit of jazz history. John Coltrane’s classic record “A Love Supreme” was issued in February 1965. In the 50 years since its birth, few, if any, have been the musicians to treat Coltrane’s record as anything other than a great jazz monument – never to be touched and always to be revered. Here is that amazing rarity in celebration of “A Love Supreme’s” 50th anniversary year – a spectacular current jazz saxophonist putting his phenomenal quartet to work on Coltrane’s composition. Marsalis, then, is using all of Coltrane’s themes, tempos and rhythms but his incredible quartet is doing it all in their own way, from note to note. This, then, is one of the more phenomenal things that ever happens in jazz: one master player performing the most passionate tribute he can to a greater one by using every bit of his own majestic talent. 

Obviously, Marsalis couldn’t begin to do this if his pianist Joey Calderazzo weren’t up to providing a McTyneresque harmonic carpet, bassist Eric Revis couldn’t equal the solidity of Jimmy Garrison and, most important of all, if drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts couldn’t do for his saxophone leader some of the glorious things Elvin Jones did for Coltrane. 

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