Bennie Wallace@The Bakery 02.07.06

Just when every tenor player these days seems to be a Coltrane wanna be, here comes Bennie Wallace from that hot bed of jazz, Greenwich, Connecticut, to set the record straight. Featuring music from his soon to be released tribute to the inventor of the jazz saxophone, Wallace's band delivered a "Coleman Hawkins Project" that echoed back to a previous era, but blazed a path for the future.

With support by Anthony Wilson (guitar), Alvin Queen (drums) and Danton Boller (bass), Wallace and his golden tenor tore through white hot pieces like "Little Willie Leaps" and "Broadside" like a runaway train. With the attractive breathy and raspy tone of his mentor, mixed with sonic leaps of faith akin to Eric Dolphy, Wallace alternatied between mambo and madness on the fiery and fierce "Green and Yellow." The intensity of the quartet was breathtaking.

But it was on the ballads that Wallace displayed his real talents. "Under a Blanket of Blue" was drop dead gorgeous, with Wallace's tenor dreamy, thick and emotive. Long undulating lines, mixed with his thick as molasses tone was perfectly countered by Wilson's radiant and fluid guitar work. Likewise, "Willow Weep For Me" , with Boller's bass playing like a flamenco guitar, was vibrant, swaying and cutting to the viscera.

As a fan who had seen Hawkins play in the 40's commented after the show, "I didn't think anyone know how to play that well anymore."

-George W. Harris