REVIEWS

Jazz performance and education spreads into the hinterlands. Mark Watkins is saxophonist, both tenor and soprano, and director of jazz studies at Brigham Young University-Idaho at Rexburg in the eastern part of the state near Wyoming. His a capella saxophone quartet for this album is augmented with six additional musicians [trumpet, trombone, guitar, piano, bass, and drums]. The tentet plays seven original works by Watkins. Notably among the guests are Vincent Gardner, from the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and brother Derrick Gardner, from the Count Basie Orchestra. Drummer Kobie Watkins (no relation) played with Sonny Rollins.

Watkins was trained in classical woodwinds, first at Brigham Young University and then earning his doctorate from Indiana University. His saxophone quartet, initially a classical ensemble, turned to jazz and renamed itself FOUR. One of the tracks (Today, Yesterday, Tomorrow and Forever) reflects his background and is toward Third Stream. The album however opens with New Orleans in mind; the second line drum beat leads to a whimsical bouncy brass romp with dense layers of soaring solos. Next is an uptempo modal exploration, Don't Care Who Knows It. The sonorous trombone contrasts with the upper registers soprano sax and guitar, making room for the piano solo. The group is having fun. Against My Desire to Imagine shifts to a gentle, melodically dark ballad, led by Derrick Gardner's singing trumpet and then Corey Christiansen's guitar picking. Of angular fast bop phrasing, The Executioner is Looking Away allows Watkin's tenor to shine and opportunity for a drum solo. Turning to Latin fringe and clave beat, Shouldn'a Did That is influenced by Snarky Puppy funk. After the delightfully lively chamber jazz interplay for FOUR, the album departs with Without Another Word, a bop piece for the Gardner duo. Watkins compositions and leadership gives us a refreshing take on historical styles and contemporay winks. Not bad for a blind man.