Albums of the week (Oct 17-23) - Jazz: Branford Marsalis, In My Solitude: Live at Grace Cathedral

Publication: Evening Standard
Author: Jane Cornwell
Date: October 17, 2014

Three-time Grammy winner Marsalis has long explored the creative possibilities of the jazz quartet and duo setting; his warm, expressive saxophone playing has enhanced many a classical ensemble and transformed countless rock and pop performances. Now comes the American maestro’s first unaccompanied solo album, recorded live inside an iconic San Francisco landmark with vaulted ceiling arches and a seven-second delay. And what a glorious affair it is: spare, melodic and perhaps inevitably spiritual. Whether playing soprano, alto or tenor saxophone on tracks including Hoagy Carmichael’s evergreen Stardust, his own inventive The Moment I Recall Your Face and a handful of soaring improvisations, Marsalis is unhurried, respectful but direct. An intimate work that eschews virtuosic flurries in favour of meaning and feeling.