Reviews |
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It was probably at one of the jam sessions at the Lincoln
Square Center (across from the present Lincoln Center) when
I, as a teenager, first heard the tenor saxophonist Hal Stein
(we were born three months apart), holding his own in some
tough competition. Later, after he had served in the Korean
War, he had switched to alto and I wrote the liner notes to
a Prestige LP called Four Altos that he made with Phil Woods,
Gene Quill and Sahib Shihab. Now he's he back on tenor and
I was delighted to hear his new CD, Spirit!. He hasn't lost
that spirit he absorbed playing in New York in the heyday of
52nd Street and bebop. Add to this the depth acquired in a
lifetime of playing. The repertoire, ranging from Herbie Nichols
and Billy Strayhorn to a mixture of originals and well-known
and more obscure standards suits him to a tee and he presents
them righteously. I raise my stein to Hal! SPIRIT! by the Hal Stein Quartet is a super CD. What a joy to hear this brilliant
jazz master and his outstanding quartet! Few players have been able to forge
a completely original voice and yet stay within the boundaries of the great
bebop tradition, and Hal Stein is one of the best! The choice of tunes is great,
and the group handles each of them with sensitivity, imagination and – above
all – passion. My personal favorite is the recently discovered Billy
Strayhorn classic "Le Sacre Supreme". Regardless of stylistic preferences, SPIRIT!
is a must-have CD for every listener who values artistic integrity. Hal Stein's resplendent CD embodies his musical values of vitality, logic, clarity and impassioned sympatico. He is among the endangered species of saxophone jazz masters. Digging his spirited quartet is a mandate!
Hal Stein is a name that will sound vaguely familiar to collectors of 1950s
jazz. Born in 1928, he was originally an altoist. He caught the tail-end of
the swing era but is best known for his more boppish small group recordings
including projects with Al Cohn (Broadway '54), Teddy Charles (Word From Bird)
and Four Altos (which teamed him with Phil Woods, Gene Quilland Sahib Shihab).
Based in San Francisco since 1971, Stein has hardly been on records at all
since the 1950s but fortunately has never stopped playing. Now a tenor-saxophonist
with a large tone, Stein shows on Spirit that he is still a strong bop-based
player. Joined by pianist Lee Bloom, bassist John Wiitala and drummer Danny
Spencer, Stein is heard in his prime despite being in his late seventies. He
plays beautifully on a wide variety of material that includes Herbie Nichols "Shuffle
Montgomery," Billy Strayhorn's little-known"Le Sacre Supreme," "Crazy He Calls
Me," "Autumn Nocturne" and Bob Berg's "Friday Night At The Cadillac Club." If
Hal Stein were better-known, he would be called a living legend. His playing
is a joy and will be a revelation to listeners who thought that he had fallen
off the earth by 1960. Recommended! Born in 1928, Hal Stein is one of the living witnesses of Jazz. He played with people like Don Byas, Charlie Parker and Teddy Wilson at Town Hall, and very possibly visited Japan soon after WW II. His most famous recordings are "Hal Stein & Warren Fitzgerald" and "Four Altos". SPIRIT! is surprisingly the first release under his own name. He was 76 years old at the time of it's recording. Why not? You still hear a very strong saxophone. Not only that, it is wonderful to feel his spirit taking on new musical challenges. You can also tell by the balanced programming in the titles he chose for this album: Herbie Nichols etc. This could be thanks to Lee Bloom, the producer and pianist. Stein says "I'm not doing anything difficult, just honest expression blowing through the horn." But how could it be so straight ahead? This man has an atmosphere that only a musician with old school experience can. He has something more than just lots of rings around the tree... My favorite track is "Two for the SeeSaw". It's OK having recordings of Harry Allen but could Japanese record companies please record more active and virile veterans? No one can accuse Berkeley saxophonist Hal Stein of rushing into the recording studio. At 77, he's just released "Spirit!" his first album as a bandleader in five decades, and it's the work of an artist who hasn't lost a step. Brawny and bruising on up-tempo pieces, sensual and insinuating on ballads, Stein's imposing sound is still huge and pliant. While there's no mistaking his roots in the early days of bebop, Stein is always looking for new ideas. God, it's good to have Hal Stein back on disc! He was on the scene during the early days of bebop, and, more than a half century later, his passion is unabated. His tone on tenor saxophone is fat and his conception is mature, the product of a lifetime spent in the jazz trenches." |