Joel Frahm
We Used to Dance
Anzic Records


Technique or Tone? Chops or Heart?This is the eternal question for sax players. It seems one has to be sacrificed for the other. While Joel Frahm certainly has the dexterity to handle upbeat songs on this enticing release, it’s his warm, enveloping tone on the ballads that will close the deal. He definitely handles himself well in the company of Kenny Barron, Rufus Reid and Victor Levy on the self-penned burners like “A Whole New You” and “The Dreamer.” His extrapolations on this torrid pieces are a beauty to behold. However, it is on the enchanting slower pieces like Kenny Barron’s “Song For Abdullah” or the standard “My Ideal” that Frahms tenor gives off a warm glow. Completely unhurried, each note just rolls in like a fog at Fisherman’s Wharf. His phrasing around Reid’s bass on the closing “We Used To Dance” is silky smooth, and his bouncing over the gentle bossa beat on “Jobimiola” is as tender as Claus Oberman’s strings. The older I get, the more I’m moved by the sound than the pyrotechnics. This disc will show you why.


-George W. Harris