Elemental
HCR, 2023
8/10
The tenor sax wizard Stephen Philip Harvey aligns himself with some excellent company for these 6 songs that were pieced together during the pandemic and point at themes of fire, air, water and earth.
The title track opens the listen with Chris Coles’ animated alto sax and Theron Brown’s warm keys making for a bright yet reflective climate, and “Tidal Force” follows with Tony DePaolis’ precise bass and Tommy Lehman’s soulful trumpet front and center in the dreamy delivery.
Packed in the middle are “Fuel The Flame” and “Tectonic Shift”, where the former offers a swift and harmonic display of frisky brass to complement Dustin May’s agile drumming, while the latter showcases Dan Bruce’s spirited guitar work in the swirling, dynamic album highlight.
The final track, “Balance”, benefits much from Reggie Watkins’ well timed trombone that helps illuminate the timeless jazz sensibilities that we could never tire of.
A listen very much steeped in modern jazz ideas, this is Harvey’s first outing as an 8 piece, and let’s hope it isn’t his last, cause the massive amount of talent present makes each song worth revisiting many times.
Travels well with: Saturn Quartet- Luz; Jakob Dreyer- Songs, Hymns And Ballads Vol. 2