Gary Smulyan - Alternative Contrafacts (2018)

Baritone saxophonist Gary Smulyan brings here his trademark "contrafacts" (a music making method that shares the chord progressions with other compositions) approach to this first SteepleChase leader outing challenging us (maybe?) to guess the tunes he is employing. Smulyan whose professional career took shape by joining Woody Herman's Young Thundering Herds at age 22 (in 1978) has won Critics' and Readers' Poll awards numerous times by Downbeat and JazzTimes, among others. The Penguin Guide to Jazz once described Smulyan as "the leading American exponent of postbop baritone".

TRACKLIST

01. Vodka (feat. David Wong & Rodney Green)
02. Deep People (feat. David Wong & Rodney Green)
03. Tale of the Fingers (feat. David Wong & Rodney Green)
04. Cohn Pone (feat. David Wong & Rodney Green)
05. Moodamorphosis (feat. David Wong & Rodney Green)
06. Ahma See Ya (feat. David Wong & Rodney Green)
07. I've Changed (feat. David Wong & Rodney Green)
08. On the Minute (feat. David Wong & Rodney Green)
09. Hanid (feat. David Wong & Rodney Green)

Personnel:

Gary Smulyan - baritone saxophone
David Wong - bass
Rodney Green - drums