Review of Steve Slagle’s “Into the Heart of It”

Saxophonist Steve Slagle is in his 70s now, and there’s maturity and wisdom in his playing. With each phrase, he knows where he wants to go, what path will get him there, and how it sets up the next phrase. There’s no hesitancy, no noodling, and no throwing everything against the wall to see if something sticks in the name of “virtuosity.” With Ballads: Into the Heart of It (Panorama), Slagle walks in confidently where there’s no place to hide.

Slagle’s tone is starting to show his age, however. Slagle is always precise, but there’s some blurry wobble where the controlled vibrato used to be. There’s less of the tartness that made him stand out in a big band, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing for a ballad album. But he doesn’t have as much of the pleading, urgent sound that he once had (hear, for example, his commanding presence on the title track to Carla Bley’s Heavy Heart).

Slagle is joined here by Bruce Barth and Richard Sussman on keyboards, Ugonna Okegwo on bass, Jason Tiemann on drums, and guest trumpeter Randy Brecker on three tracks. All are ego-free studio pros, and no one is pushing any envelopes here. I would have liked to hear some of Slagle’s excellent flute playing to add some sonic variety, especially to “My One and Only Love,” which has an Afro-Caribbean feel.

The album opens boldly with one of the greatest ballads ever from one of the greatest ballad players ever on one of the greatest jazz albums ever: Miles Davis’s “Blue in Green” from Kind of Blue. The ringing electric piano and synthesizer tones give the piece a modern update, and Slagle shows no intimidation. Another standard is Thelonious Monk’s “Reflections,” given a lush recording that brings out the richness of Brecker’s sound. They don’t emphasize the Monkish rhythms and intervals as much as remind us of this song’s beautiful chord changes.

“Si, See” has Slagle on soprano. His percussive attack and cleanly snipped-off notes at times recall Steve Lacy, although Slagle has a way of ending a phrase by sliding down into something smooth in a way uniquely his own. On “The Four Margarets,” Slagle’s soprano has more of clarinet-like tone with an approach that is closer to Grover Washington Jr. than Lacy. On the final note, Slagle hits an octave dead perfect. Do not attempt this on soprano unless you’re a 50-year pro like Slagle.

A ballad album succeeds or fails on the soloist’s tone and ability to create a mood. At times, such as the start of “If You Could See Me Now,” Slagle has fluid Charlie Parker-like lines that slide gracefully over the changes; at other times, like on “Kiss Lonely Goodbye,” Slagle’s intonation falters, and those high split notes sound more clumsy than dramatic.

This is a good album — maybe too unpolished for that romantic candle-lit dinner, but it’s a fine study in how to construct mainstream ballad solos with taste and individuality.

(Originally published on the Arts Fuse, March 3, 2022)
https://artsfuse.org/250312/march-short-fuses-materia-critica-2/