Publication: Audiophile Audition
Author: Robbie Gerson
Date: August 2, 2012

Superlative jazz album…digital or vinyl.

With a resume as varied as Branford Marsalis, there is a world of inspiration to influence his musical journey. He has played with Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Sting, Bruce Hornsby, Shirley Horn, Bela Fleck, Horace Silver, Roy Hargrove and many, many others. His family is the closest thing to jazz royalty, and have always represented the best of New Orleans. But for the latest release by his quartet Four MFs Playin’ Tunes, his focal point originated from a comment from legendary band leader/mentor Art Blakey. When asked to describe jazz in one word, Blakey retorted… ”intensity, intensity, intensity”.

The Branford Marsalis Quartet used this mantra in their newest release. Returning are Marsalis (soprano and tenor saxophone), Joey Calderazzo (piano) and Eric Revis (bass). Justin Faulkner, the youngest member (who joined in 2009) takes over on drums. In a divergence from usual marketing, a double-disc 180-gram audiophile album was released in April to coincide with National Record Day. [Not 45 rpm but spread-out grooves…Ed.] Now there is also an audio CD, and fans of either digital and analog music can get a wonderful dose of great jazz. As the opening Latin-tinged piano chords ring on “The Mighty Sword”, the inherent cohesion among these talented musicians is exceptional and drives the music. The opening track, “The Mighty Sword”, Marsalis slides in gracefully with his trademark soprano. Chemistry may be an overused description in music, but not here. Newcomer Justin Faulkner is a furious drummer and keeps the hard bop intensity going. Calderazzo delivers a brilliant, percolating solo. Marsalis follows with another compelling run. On the next track (“Brews”) a bluesy urban vamp (almost West Side Story) features an ensemble that intermingles fearlessly. The transition into a grittier aesthetic is seamless. The sound of the group is fresh and original. After another superlative piano solo, bassist/composer Eric Revis adds a loping bass before the piece morphs back to its initial melody. Read more »

Publication: Boston Globe
Author: Siddartha Mitter
Date: August 7, 2012

That sure is a silly album title — it’s amusing now, but how will it sound some years down the line? This is an issue because “Four MFs Playin’ Tunes” may have some staying power: a tight set of well-slung tunes that show the elements of a classic quartet outing in nice balance. In recruiting 20-year-old Justin Faulkner to the drummer’s chair, Branford Marsalis injected his quartet with fresh spirit; a lithe, quizzing dialogue between Faulkner and pianist Joey Calderazzo prevails throughout, and especially on the second half of “Whiplash,” the energetic centerpiece. A spiffy take on Thelonious Monk’s “Teo” and a lovely Sidney Bechet homage, “Treat It Gentle,” establish lineage; other highlights include an angular blues, “Brews,” by bassist Eric Revis, and Calderazzo’s searching ballad “As Summer Into Autumn Slips.” The album’s approach is familiar, conservative perhaps, but the music has soul — particularly when Marsalis wields the soprano sax — and the net effect, title aside, is wholly satisfying. Read more »

Publication: Burning Ambulance
Author: Phil Freeman
Date: August 7, 2012

Since the dawn of the millennium, Branford Marsalis‘s quartet has been steadily turning out albums that, without ever making landmark statements, nevertheless push restlessly against the strictures of modern jazz. In a way, this album, which introduces new drummer Jason Faulkner, is a bookend to the group’s first release, 2000′s Contemporary Jazz, which introduced pianist Joey Calderazzo to the lineup following the death of Kenny Kirkland, who’d worked with Marsalis (and his brother Wynton) since the 1980s. Like Contemporary Jazz, its title—Four MFs Playin’ Tunes—is an emphatic statement of purpose not unlike Ornette Coleman‘s This is Our Music or Thelonious Monk‘s Monk’s Music.

The actual music offers a similar line-in-the-sand challenge to the listener. Four MFs begins with three straight pieces featuring Marsalis on soprano saxophone, an instrument that can ruin a jazz record quicker than any other (even the bagpipes are better—seek out the work of Rufus Harley). Still, it must be said that Marsalis’s voice on the soprano is instantly identifiable, and more enjoyable than many of his squawking, squiggling, circular-breathing peers. And the band behind him is terrific. Calderazzo is a McCoy Tyner-ish pianist, spinning out baroque swirls of notes with a lightning-fast right hand; Eric Revis‘s bass is thick and human, always bolstering and almost never intruding; and Faulkner is a ferocious drummer, slamming the kit around with the fury and boundless energy that only a 20-year-old can muster. But for all the ballistic power he displays on burnout tunes like “Whiplash,” he’s just as willing and able to pull back and sensitively accompany a ballad like “As Summer into Autumn Slips” (another soprano tune, but, again, a forgivable one given the beauty of Marsalis’s handling of the melody). Read more »