Chart has once again recorded a live Hard-Bop album of fluid language, with thought-provoking phrasing, while presenting powerful control of his horn.
“We Got Somethin Goin On”, begins as a sprawling piece that starts with a powerful groove that sinks right in to your core before morphing into a full-blown jazz extravaganza, fueling Chart’s sizzling riffs. This song would have been a hit single back in the day when instrumental singles meant something.
The team of Chart on Saxophone and Mike Rocha (Big Phat Band) on Trumpet are a powerful duo, they feel and sound like Cannonball and Nat Adderley. Chart communicates meaning and emotion with his phrasing and the tone of his alto, talking to the listener in a spectrum of colors, I can feel the primal tonality soul to soul, in the fact that Chart is continually exploring uncharted territory.
“Forward Face Grace” conjures wordless forms of feeling. The imagery is a pathway that seduces you with layers of sheer exotica before tearing itself apart to finally reveal a restful clearing.
It has a vibe that is the essence of jazz. It’s the wee hours in a downtown speakeasy.
“Somewhat of a Character” is a perfect example of Chart’s Hard Bop riffs, so graceful and powerful, keeping a charismatic interplay with Rocha, as they seem to make so much happen with ease.
No unnecessary layers and motifs.
If you have a great song, then it will speak for itself. “Notes To Myself” does just that freely joining textures and dynamics, Justin floats his glistening sound over the attentive work of his rhythm section, featuring drummer Cecil Brooks III, who grooves and swings splendidly. I am familiar with Cecil from his work with John Hicks and Christian McBride. Keyboardist Saul plays harmonic fragments, leaving a wide aperture for Chart to be the messenger that he is.
“Calling Evans” has the feel of an after-hours place where all of the best jazz musicians go to play after their gigs to play what their souls are saying with free rein to improvise in a soul-searching manner.
There are two bass players on this album and their unique styles are boldly powerful. Mike Selfridge plays upright while Alejandro Arenas is on electric.
They both have a vibrant sound that is intriguing and demands attention.
“Night Heat” delivers gallant, growling, grooving Jazz, the perfect combination of the slick and the raw-edged, of modernity and tradition. From there they explore any number of Jazz byways and swingin side roads, spiraling solos coat every performance with a glistening, mesmerizing dialog of wisdom. “Pearl Was” is a cool ballad, with shining solos and spacious deliveries that coat your consciousness with authenticity.
Checking Chart’s discography, I see that Saul on keyboards and Chart have done a few records together and have developed a sonic and symbiotic alliance.
“Scatter Good Seed in The Fields” again featuring the team of Chart and Rocha, each with explosive solos, and tight horn sections that are just outstanding, especially when you consider these are live performances, and completely improvised. Chart takes raw jazz matter and propels it into a zone where few men have dared to venture. With his use of harmonic substitutions Chart makes a daring choice of notes, and produces a clear penetrating sonority which gives him a unique sound that is all his own, yet gives the feel of a sixties Blue Note record.
The ensemble closes out the album with “Make The Grade,” which projects a modern jazz edge.
The breakdown at 1:30 is phenomenal; these guys are so tight, words, at times, are beyond the power of my pen.
Chart plays with a romantic’s imagination a classicist’s precision and at times, with frightening intensity. The musical telepathy on “Night Heat” is magnificent!
Chart and Co. have indubitably captured the heat of the night in “Night Heat”.
ABOUT JUSTIN CHART
Universal Music Group artist Justin Chart is a visionary alto saxophonist, acclaimed for his elegant and enticing extemporization and electrifying hard bop. Chart pushes the boundaries of jazz, relying completely on improvisation, creating beautifully wrought pieces of jazz with spellbinding spontaneity.
With an infinite improvisational vocabulary, intricate compositional changes and emotive eloquence, Chart welcomes the audience on a musical odyssey. He invites them to be fully in the moment, immersed in the magic that arises as Chart engages with their energy – fueling exuberant riffs sizzling with passion, and orchestrating enchanting balladry imbued with tenderness and longing.
An artist of intense vision who has developed his own sound and unique musical identity, Chart is known in West Coast Jazz circles as “The Blizzard” because of his electrifying Hard Bop, firing off riffs “like a peregrine falcon flying through the canyons.” Chart is a fiery player, passionate and exquisitely in-the-moment, who is not afraid to push himself and his art forward.
Justin Chart’s musical career spans over four decades, with performances throughout the world. He has amassed nearly 100,000 followers on Instagram and over 12 MILLION views on YouTube. His new album “Night Heat” is available on all major streaming platforms
