Search - Bennie Wallace :: The Old Songs (XRCD)

Wallace masters old songs with sheer virtuosity

Wordsworth | Greenwich, CT | 09/28/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first heard Bennie Wallace live at JazzAid:New Orleans, a benefit concert for Hurricane Katrina relief in Greenwich, CT. When he started to blow on that horn, he transported me to another world. At the JazzAid concert Bennie also performed with Alvin Queen, who plays drums on this CD, and Danton Boller. There's pure magic in this music, from "When You Wish upon a Star" to the pure, honest, reverend simplicity of "My One and Only Love" and Hoagie Carmichael's heartbreakingly, sweet "Skylark," which sounded to me like the jazz equivalent of the poetry of Keats. To say that Bennie Wallace is a tenor sax virtuoso may be an understatement because his talent, technical facility and genius for improvisation are not of this world. And you can really hear in his quality the timeless blend of invention and powerful grace in deference to the classic melodies of the old songs. If you love hearing jazz that constantly surprises you with off the charts improvisation, listen to Bennie and Alvin on this CD. The old songs never sounded so new in this collection of favorites that establish Bennie Wallace as one of the jazz greats of our day -- this jazz man is a living legend."