Temple Of Olympic Zeus

Ever since he first began to be noticed in 1992, Eric Alexander has developed into one of the giants of the tenor sax. He is not an avant-garde trailblazer; nor are there scores of saxophonists who sound like his clones. But Alexander has developed his own sound within the areas of hard bop to post-bop; he gives the impression that he can sound confident and very credible in any setting, and he has yet to make an unworthy recording. He has led at least 20 CD recordings since his emergence, with Temple of Olympic Zeus being one of his best. The middle of the CD, where Alexander performs a lyrical version of "Some Other Time" and a hard-swinging "Blues for David," features some of his finest playing. Four selections add the fiery trumpet of Jim Rotondi, who is a particularly suitable match with Alexander. Pianist David Hazeltine sounds inspired throughout this outing and bassist Nat Reeves and drummer Joe Farnsworth are stimulating and supportive. But the main star is Eric Alexander, a brilliant improviser who deserves much more recognition for invigorating jazz's modern mainstream. ~ Scott Yanow