TT 403: Nicole Glover PLAYS + Kevin Sun THE FATE OF THE TENOR

Tenor trios circa now

Nicole Glover and Kevin Sun both play tenor saxophone, both were born in 1991, and both have new releases that emphasize original music presented in the classic tenor trio format with bass and drums.

(In an amusing coincidence, both of the black and white cover photos show a left index finger laying against the leader’s face. Update: It turns out that Sun is actually initiating the original cover of Joe Henderson’s State of the Tenor.)

Nicole Glover Plays

Tyrone Allen, bass
Kayvon Gordon, drums

guesting on four tunes: Steve Nelson, vibes

produced by Jeremy Pelt, released by Savant

Glover is a modernist coming out Joe Henderson and John Coltrane, but a delightful hint of old-school hurly burly in her sound sets her far apart from most of her peers. The first track “Open or Close” has a hunt and peck riff somewhat in the Sonny Rollins bag, where Glover turns a motif inside out, upside down, and all the way around. The sleek rhythm section roars beneath the tenor and we are headed straight down the highway of advanced jazz excellence.

In the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s, many truly excellent tenors came out of the Coltrane thing with something a bit one-dimensional and shiny. Glover digs deeper. When the fast tenor cascades finally arrive on McCoy Tyner’s “Inception,” the emotion is genuinely troubled and genuinely spiritual.

While “Inception” has gained some ground in recent years, this must be one of the few recordings of “The Fox” since Kenny Dorham’s album Trompeta Toccata. What a pleasure to hear Steve Nelson to eat up these fast Dorham changes. Nelson is one of those veterans that elevates any project he’s part of. (I just looked and one of his earliest appearances on a significant record is on Kenny Barron’s Golden Lotus from 1982; he’s also on Barron’s latest from last week, Beyond This Place. )

“The A-side” is a spacious ballad with lots of room for bassist Tyrone Allen. Nelson is not on this track, but for some reason “The A-side” makes me think of an open Bobby Hutcherson theme like “Visions.”

On “Munsoon” Glover really gets in high gear. The tune is perhaps a bit in the Cedar Walton bag (like “Boliva” and “Firm Roots”) but at supersonic speed and rendered with flawless elegance. Nice drum opening from Kayvon Gordon, and the flow beneath the virtuoso tenor statement couldn’t be better.

“I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face” is the only standard, a walking ballad and a perfect feature for Glover’s thick sonority, where the references become a bit older and esoteric: Ben Webster, Paul Gonsalves, or even Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis. Nelson comps like a quality pianist and the feel from Allen and Gordon is right in there. As good as this is, I’d be curious to hear Glover play this kind of thing with a carelessly idiosyncratic rhythm section, something more in the Duke Ellington to Jaki Byard line. Her grizzly burr will remain beautiful no matter the context, so why not make the context a little less predictable?

The recording closes with “Blues For Mel,” a tribute to drummer Mel Brown, a crucial voice on the Portland jazz scene and one of Glover’s mentors. Nelson is on the track but he doesn’t comp much: Rather, Nelson lets the wide open space between Glover, Allen, and Gordon simply exist in groove before taking his own burning solo. It is a seriously swinging track, a great conclusion to a seriously swinging album.

Kevin Sun, The Fate of the Tenor

Walter Stinson, bass
Matt Honor, drums

recording was made live at Lowlands in Brooklyn, produced by Sun, and released on Endectomorph

Probably Kevin Sun and Nicole Glover share a lot of the same influences, especially Joe Henderson and John Coltrane. However, Sun is also an expert in Mark Turner, and over the past decade Sun has been pondering how to turn Turner’s oblique/methodical angle to fresh account. Sun’s arsenal includes odd meters, Steve Coleman structures, pop references (“Elden Steps” nods to the acclaimed video game Elden Rings) and a healthy dose of irony. (The Fate of the Tenor refers to Joe Henderson’s famous tenor trio recording The State of the Tenor.)

“Involuted Blues” kicks things off with a odd meter vamp and a high wail from the horn. Sun is greasy, at times even lurid: Eddie Harris is also in this constellation of influences. The tune is quite challenging with an unpredictable tempo change, but this hard music had gotten a chance to develop on tour and during Sun’s weekly gig at Lowlands. As a result, both Walter Stinson and Matt Honor turn every corner with ease.

A relentless acceleration liquidates the texture before a segue into “Elden Steps,” a charismatic abstraction of Coltrane’s “Giant Steps.” The trio goes through event after event, contrasting feels, odd meters, faster, slower. Perhaps the reference to a video game is quite literal, where each level requires a different strategy to succeed.

“Karaoke Hero” starts with a bass cadenza before turning into a ballad with twists and turns. Wide intervals confirm the Mark Turner influence, but when Sun gets into serious blowing he organizes the lines strictly within meter in a manner that is quite fresh. Of course, everyone under 40 plays changing meters today, but one thing that sets “Karaoke Hero” apart is the simplicity of the harmony, namely triads in major and minor. This harmonic clarity might be the “Karaoke” part of the title. Excellent track.

“Demonesque” is another highlight, with a wild arco bass introduction and something more from avant jazz in the first tenor entrance. Soon enough, the odd meter counting returns, but Sun remains possessed by a demon on top, emitting furious cascades, microtones, and overblowing.

The one composition from the traditional songbook is Billy Strayhorn’s “A Flower is a Lovesome Thing.” The famous melody lays well on Sun’s tenor whether he’s in the high octave or the lower one. Stinson is busy, sounding rather African in his patterning, and Honor’s tasty brush work holds it all together.

Applause and crowd noise contribute to feeling of intimacy. The Kevin Sun Lowlands gig on Tuesdays is a going concern (Tim Berne holds it down on Thursdays) and The Fate of the Tenor makes a strong case for showing up and hearing the sounds in person sooner rather than later.

The Fate of the Tenor on Bandcamp.