Eric Truffaz Quartet Lune Rouge

A fine straight-ahead jazz saxophonist, Eric Alexander grew up in the state of Washington. He initially attended Indiana University, studying classical music as an altoist. However, he soon discovered jazz, switched to the tenor, and transferred to William Paterson College in New Jersey. After graduating, he moved to Chicago and gained important experience touring with Charles Earland while also becoming a fixture in local clubs. In 1991, Alexander placed second at the Thelonious Monk Institute's saxophone competition, finishing just behind Joshua Redman…

After 500,000 albums sold all over the world, the genre-bending jazz bandleader Erik Truffaz returns, with a brand new album. With his immense experience in music and the perspective that comes with age, Erik handles the trumpet with the hands of a master, drawing his inspiration from the uninhabited, the unknown, and everything that escapes the collective psyche. Along with his handful of associates (Arthur Hnatek, Corboz Benoit, Marcello Giuliani), Erik has shaped his sound. Inspired by the stars aligning, they made their upcoming album "Lune Rouge" (Red Moon) with the aim of raising their music to a level worthy of science-fiction.

There was a generation or two of trumpeters who picked up ideas from the meteoric musical trajectory of Miles Davis and developed them after Miles himself had moved on. Palle Mikkelborg and Enrico Rava are good examples, but the Swiss-born Frenchman Érik Truffaz is one of the most consistently creative. He just can’t help sounding beautiful and lyrical, whatever the setting. A good example here is his work on the slightly grungy sound of vocalist Anna Aaron’s song Blue Movie, which has a delightful, whimsical trumpet solo with Harmon mute that could have sprung out of any Davis recording from the 50s or 60s. As on many recent Truffaz discs, regular partners join the trumpeter: namely Marcello Giuliani on bass and drummer Marc Erbetta…

This release presents, for the first time ever on a single set, all of the music recorded by the Eric Dolphy Quartet in Denmark on September 6 & 8, 1961, which originally appeared on three separate LPs: Eric Dolphy in Europe Vols. 1 to 3. Further versions of “Laura (unaccompanied) and “When Lights Are Low” as well as a short take on Thelonious Monk’s “52nd Street Theme”, recorded a few days earlier in Sweden, have been added here as a bonus.

Eric Alexander has had many opportunities to record as a leader for several different labels, though producer Tetsuo Hara, owner of the Japanese label Venus, has become a huge fan, recording him almost any time he travels to New York City. This 2008 session finds the tenor saxophonist with several musicians with whom he is very familiar, including pianist Mike LeDonne, bassist John Webber, and drummer Joe Farnsworth (the latter two who play with Alexander in the co-op band One for All)…

Since arriving on the jazz scene, Eric Alexander has turned into one of the busiest tenor saxophonists, recording prolifically for labels in the U.S., Europe, and Japan, in addition to his participation in the all-star band One for All. This third volume of ballads for Venus utilizes the same rhythm section as the earlier two editions: pianist Mike LeDonne, bassist John Webber, and drummer Joe Farnsworth, three of the busiest jazz musicians in New York City…