It has been a while since I had an opportunity to listen to saxophonist Chris Potter. According to my archives, my last encounter involved his appearance with the Frankfurt Radio Big Band on an album entitled Rituals in an article which I wrote in August of 2022. That was almost ten years after I had written about one of his albums, The Sirens, which I described as “a jazz refraction of Homer’s Odyssey.”
John Patitucci, Chris Potter, Brad Mehldau, and Brian Blade (courtesy of Edition Records)
At the beginning of this week, I learned of Potter’s latest album through Play MPE. Eagle’s Point is a quartet album with Potter joined by pianist Brad Mehldau, John Patitucci on bass, and drummer Brian Blade. The text accompanying the track listing stated that the content would be released on Edition Records this coming spring. However, to my pleasant surprise, I discovered that Amazon.com had already created a Web page for the album, claiming that it would be released this coming Friday. As a result, it is currently processing pre-orders. Nevertheless, as of this writing, options for purchase are limited to CD or vinyl.
The album consists of eight tracks, all of which are Potter originals. While his usual instrument is the saxophone, the third track, “Indigo Ildikó,” begins with a “cadenza” played on bass clarinet. Some of the other tracks are introduced by Patitucci, whose capacity for lyricism is as engaging as his rhythm support. Indeed, lyrical qualities pervade the entire album; and each member of the quartet has his own way of expressing those qualities.
If Amazon’s claim about release is accurate, then it may be worth while to get to know this album sooner, rather than later!
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