Got the Keys to the Kingdom captures Chris Potter’s warm intensity — album review

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American saxophonist Chris Potter’s state-of-the art fluency and tonal control on tenor sax have long been a yardstick by which others may be judged. The precision of his early records had a somewhat steely bite, but his tone has warmed in recent years and his phrasing become leaner, more soulful and clearer cut.

Got the Keys to the Kingdom, a sax-and rhythm-quartet, is Potter’s third live album from New York’s Village Vanguard jazz club. Recorded during a residency in February last year, it captures that warm, free-flowing intensity on a set of covers ranging from be-bop to Amazonian folk and classic blues. Melodies are clearly stated and roots made clear, but each composition is recast in a contemporary jazz aesthetic with improvisation at its core.

The set opens with Potter commanding, unaccompanied and setting the pulse of Mississippi Fred McDowell’s “You Gotta Move”. The tune was covered by The Rolling Stones with slide-guitar authenticity on their 1971 album Sticky Fingers, but here it is the inspiration for a swirling 14-minute slow burn. As the music gathers force, backbeats crackle, phrases tumble, bend and slur and the piece peaks with a Marcus Gilmore drum solo. “Nozani Na” follows, with pianist Craig Taborn stretching a folk tune to abstraction and then a gorgeous reading of Billy Strayhorn’s “Blood Count”.

Album cover of ‘Got the Keys to the Kingdom: Live at the Village Vanguard’ by Chris Potter

The saxophonist can easily overwhelm, but here his rhythm section plays with the confidence and commitment of long-term acquaintances — Scott Colley played acoustic bass on Potter’s first Vanguard recording, recorded in 2002; Taborn appeared on Potter’s second, which was recorded five years later.

Alongside drummer Gilmore, they complete the album’s grip. They stride through Charlie Parker’s “Klactoveedsedstene”, gently ruminate on Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Olha Maria” and build a compelling head of steam on the traditional spiritual “Got the Keys to the Kingdom”, the album’s final track.

★★★★☆

Got the Keys to the Kingdom: Live at the Village Vanguardis released by Edition Records

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