Sanyas

Steve Turre has amassed hundreds of credits as a sideman and bandleader. Hes played with musicians including Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Woody Shaw, Hilton Ruiz, Chico Hamilton, and Lester Bowie, to name a few, has been a member of the Saturday Night Live Band since 1985, and broke through to the jazz mainstream with 1993s Sanctified Shells. Since, Turres steady stream of leader recordings have inhabited a space of their own, hovering between blues, hard and post-bop, Eastern and Afro-Latin sounds, and modal grooves. Sanyas is his first live album and was recorded as a sextet with pianist Isaiah J. Thompson, bassist Buster Williams, and drummer Lenny White, with Ron Blake and Nicholas Payton on tenor sax and trumpet, respectively. The set includes a pair of Turre originals in the title track and "Wishful Thinking," a cover of Lee Morgans "Mr. Kenyatta," and two standards. Turre has recorded the title cut twice before: in 1975 on Shaws The Moontrane and in 1991 on his own Right There. The title refers to the fourth stage of the Hindu spiritual path, but Turre was inspired by the Sanyasis, orange-robed Hindu monks who practice renunciation. It commences with an introductory horn cacophony that is nearly anthemic before unfolding in a nearly 14-minute conversation, with Williams solo entering over a circular piano vamp and atop an Eastern-tinged horn lyric. Turres modal, bluesy solo is answered in empathy by Blakes. The trombonist closes down the tune after delivering a gorgeous coda on conch shells. The standard "All the Things You Are," begins with a bright, propulsive mini-big band intro before muscling into tight, swinging, carnivalesque hard bop. Williams is the glue, anchoring a joyous conversation among his bandmates, with fine solos from Blake and Payton. Morgans "Mr. Kenyatta," from 1966s Search For the New Land, is rendered a bit more languidly, but its also warmer without forsaking its hard bop m.o. White effortlessly walks the tightrope between blues, Afro-Latin rhythms, and intrinsic swing. Payton blows his heart out in his solo as Williams walks sturdily behind him, and Thompson delivers fat, bluesy, chords and accents. Turres solo is loping, crisscrossing jazz traditions with his own signature phrasing, and effortlessly weaving them together with bluesy grit. His "Wishful Thinking" is a jazz ballad with lush horn harmonies underscored by tender chords from the pianist. Following a trombone crescendo, Thompson, Payton (with a mute), and Williams all solo before the horns bring the close with elegance and grace. Closer "These Foolish Things" is bright and Horace Silver funky. Turres solo -- with a stone mute -- reflects Jack Teagardens blues, Melba Listons swing, and Curtis Fullers hard bop, followed by a piano solo and a funky walk from Williams. Though only 49 minutes long, the chosen material presents long tunes and stellar playing guided by Turres creative, democratic leadership, making for a memorable, joyous listening session. ~ Thom Jurek