| Recorded at Riverside Studio, Chicago, Illinois on August 17 & 18, 1998. Includes liner notes by Bob Porter.
Cecil Payne first made his mark on the jazz world in the '40s, recording with J.J. Johnson and Dizzy Gillespie and doing for the baritone sax what Charlie Christian did for the electric guitar. With a stint in the Basie band under his belt, the artist was equally versed in pre- and post-bop styles, but PAYNE'S WINDOW is solid hard bop all the way. Pianist Harold Mabern is Payne's main foil here, and the two old friends work together with a great degree of simpatico.
Tenorman Eric Alexander, once one of Mabern's most promising students and by the late '90s a major name in jazz, sprints vigorously through the tunes, nicely contrasting Payne's steady, unhurried phrasing. Payne takes a Brazilian-style detour on Benny Carter's "Southside Samba," but the bulk of PAYNE'S WINDOW is straight-ahead, uncompromising bop of the kind heard only from the likes of this baritone innovator. |