Azar Lawrence - 5 Albums (1974-2014)

Azar Lawrence (born November 3, 1952) is an American jazz saxophonist, known for his contributions as sideman to McCoy Tyner, Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, and Woody Shaw. Lawrence was the tenor saxophonist Tyner used following John Coltrane's death. Lawrence released Summer Solstice on Prestige Records in 1975, produced by Orrin Keepnews. It featured Raul de Souza, Gerald Hayes, Amaury Tristão, Dom Salvador, Ron Carter, Guilherme Franco on the songs "Novo Ano" and "Highway" which were composed by Amaury Tristão, and Lawrence, Souza, Albert Dailey, Carter and Billy Hart on all other selections.

Bridge Into The New Age featured Jean Carn, Woody Shaw, Ray Straughter, Woody Murray, Clint Houston, Billy Hart, Guillerme Franco, Julian Priester, Hadley Caliman, Black Arthur, Joe Bonner, John Heard, Leon "Ndugu" Chancler, Mtume and Kenneth Nash.

People Moving featured Patrice Rushen, Jerry Peters, Michael Stanton, John Rowin, Lee Ritenour, Paul Jackson, Jr., Harvey Mason, Ernest Straughter.

Musician and screenwriter Herbert Baker taught music and mentored Lawrence, who recalled Baker as "one of the greatest pianists who ever lived."



Track List:
1. Bridge Into The New Age (6:41)
2. Fatisha (4:02)
3. Warriors Of Peace (8:01)
4. Forces Of Nature (8:38)
5. The Beautiful And Omnipresent Love (10:03)



Track List:
1. Magic in the night (3:57)
2. Shadow dancing (5:46)
3. Inside stuff (2:53)
4. One more time (7:57)
5. Your love is keeping me alive (3:48)
6. Keep it hot (5:16)
7. Singapore nights (5:18)
8. Interlude (3:01)



After many decades being off the recording scene, saxophonist Azar Lawrence, still a relatively young man at age 56, is back with a set of originals that reflect his main influences – Sonny Rollins or Joe Henderson to a lesser extent, but Pharoah Sanders and John Coltrane to a grand degree. Modal structures, rhythms based in African music, and improvisations that are at once sweet and pungent identifies the sound Lawrence has always held close to his heart. With able help from bassist Henry Franklin, drummers Alphonse Mouzon, or Roy McCurdy, and pianist Nate Morgan, Lawrence is able to fly into the sun without ever scorching his wings. He never discards the solid musical values in his sinewy hands since halcyon days as a sideman with McCoy Tyner, or his challenging, against the grain of trendy funk/fusion-era early-'70s recordings for Prestige Records. The difference between Lawrence and all the Coltrane wannabes is that he lived and breathed the music of the turbulent '60s, playing it with 'Trane's contemporaries and peers. This is why tracks like Mouzon's bouncy modal samba "The Baker's Daughter," with assistance from trumpeter Nolan Shaheed and the powerful piece penned by Morgan, "Swinging in Exile" have such an authentic, rooted, earthy feeling. Of course it's mainly due to the full-bodied tenor of Lawrence, whose pithy, burning, soulful tone has stood the test of time, and falls well within the range of his great friends in bygone days. Yet despite the similarities, he remains fresh while true to himself, especially on the repeat melody of "Linda G.," and the hip, hard-swinging "Open Sesame" reiterating that these base elements of repetition and subsequent development are still valid some 30-plus years later. In a floating mood, "Ode to Pharoah," where Lawrence picks up his very mellifluous soprano sax with help from bassist Tony Dumas, and the title track back on tenor, are wondrous ballads similar to Coltrane's "After the Rain" Different from all the rest of the selections, "Thokole" is a 6/8 metered griot story featuring vocalist/guitarist Ibrahim Ba and kora master Amadou Fall, Lawrence again waxing poetic on the thin, higher octave horn, punctuating Ba's wise African lyrics. The prettiest piece is "Under Tanzanian Skies," with Morgan's cascading piano and the delicate, perfectly-in-tune soprano of Lawrence commiserating late at night. In many ways, this should be a recording where those who do remember Azar Lawrence get exactly what they expect. Hopefully listeners who have never known his work will not only thoroughly enjoy this excellent disc, but also discover work on albums like his essential Bridge into the New Age, Tyner's Sama Layuca, Enlightenment, Atlantic, and the Elvin Jones evergreen New Agenda. ~ AllMusic Review by Michael G. Nastos

Track List:
1. Open Sesame (9:06)
2. Under Tanzanian Skies (7:38)
3. Thokole (5:27)
4. Prayer for My Ancestors (5:08)
5. The Baker's Daughter (8:01)
6. Swinging In Exile (5:40)
7. Ode To Pharoah (6:14)
8. Linda G (5:36)



Elvin Jones, pianist McCoy Tyner and trumpeter Miles Davis. During this period in the 1970s, Lawrence also released several critically acclaimed recordings, including Bridge Into The New Age (Prestige, 1974) and Summer Solstice (Prestige, 1975).

So rapid an ascent to the peak of the jazz world may, at times, have led Lawrence to wonder how he could be playing with these giants. But teaching and instilling confidence in youth is the role of the elders in any true community, and so one day Tyner reassured Lawrence: he told the young man that he belonged in such company because he could not only play the hell out of the horn, but because he "felt the same way about the music as John (Coltrane) did."

In 2010, some 30 years after he last took his own jazz band into the studio, Lawrence is making up for lost time. He announced his return with Speak The Word (Zarman Productions, 2008), his first studio recording as a leader since 1976. Next, he offered his profoundly felt thanks to those spirits who came before him with Prayer To My Ancestors (Furthermore Recordings, 2009). Now, Mystic Journey finds Lawrence looking back to the future, as he reunites with several old friends while simultaneously moving forward with the addition of two members of his current East Coast band.

Deserving of special mention is the illustrious, Philadelphia-born drummer Rashied Ali, who passed away not long after the completion of this recording. Ali, known primarily as a free jazz player from his collaborations with saxophonist John Coltrane during the mid 1960s, reveals just how hard he can swing as he propels the band with fiery rhythms.

Joining Lawrence in the horn section are two more old friends—trumpeter Dr. Eddie Henderson, who brings his vibrant and explosive sound to the recording, and alto saxophonist Gerald Hayes, brother of jazz drummer Louis Hayes, who Lawrence first met while still in High School in Los Angeles. Their relationship bore fruit when Hayes, on flute, performed on Lawrence's Summer Solstice, 35 years ago.

Lawrence's connection with the rest of the rhythm section may be of a more recent vintage, yet musically, it is just as intimate and potent. He first heard and played with Benito Gonzalez, the young and ascendant Venezuelan pianist, when he jammed with him a few years ago at a Kenny Garrett gig in Los Angeles. Months later, the two met again in New York and Gonzalez came aboard for Lawrence's East Coast gigs. In addition to his fiery piano work, Gonzalez's horn arrangements prove invaluable to the session, to which he also brought three tunes. Finally, Essiet Essiet, an in-demand bassist on the New York jazz scene, joined up with Lawrence and, like Gonzalez, has become a regular member of his quartet.

Mystic Journey opens with the title tune, a Lawrence original. Playing ferocious tenor from the first note, the saxophonist establishes the recording's hard-driving, riveting intensity. Ali, holding nothing back, drives the band like a train conductor high ballin' it out of the yard. Gonzalez's thick chords and pulsating rhythms reveal a distinctly Tyneresque influence on the music.

Gonzalez also adds a little Latin flavor to "Summer Solstice," the title tune from Lawrence's second recording. After a brief bass intro, the horns enter, stating the melody in unison and delivering that big sextet sound. In this solar celebration, all the horns solo. Lawrence leads the way, again on tenor, while Henderson paints his solo with the brighter hues of his musical palette. Altoist Hayes, playing with burning passion and invention, amplifies the tune's upbeat spirit. All the while, the rhythm section is swinging its collective butt off.

Lawrence plays soprano on Gonzalez's "Quest," the instrument's exotic sound perfectly suited to evoke the mystery and enchantment of this spiritual exploration. Henderson, on flugelhorn, blows gentle, playful tones suggesting these weary travelers may, at last, have found respite in a desert oasis. Paying tribute to John Coltrane's influence on his musical development, Lawrence—back on tenor and with just the rhythm section—blows warm, lush tones on Jimmy McHugh's ballad, "Say It Over And Over," recorded so memorably by Coltrane on Ballads (Impulse!, 1962).

The band gets to really stretch out on McCoy Tyner's "Walk Spirit, Talk Spirit," a modal classic Lawrence often performed as a member of the pianist's band. Ali's "Adrees" surprises with a waltz tempo, though it swings harder than any tune penned by the waltz king, Johann Strauss. The CD closes with "Starting Point," another burning, straight-ahead tune by Gonzalez. The pianist's insistent line opens the tune, answered in unison by the horns before Lawrence comes roaring in triumphantly on tenor. Henderson— confident, precise and hip as ever—takes the next solo. Gonzalez dances his fingers over the ivories, Essiet plucks the bass strings relentlessly and Ali cooks, before the horns return to take the tune out.

The return of Azar Lawrence to the mainstream jazz scene is one of the most gratifying developments in recent jazz history. His rededication to his musical gift, evidenced by the seven- hour days he apparently devotes to practicing scales and playing long tones, has not only allowed him to resume the journey towards his destiny, it has given the jazz world what, in a way, is a "new" master of the saxophone. His compelling sound and volcanic performance, so poignantly captured on Mystic Journey, reveals an artist at the peak of his musical powers. ~ review By CHUCK KOTON

Personnel: Azar Lawrence: tenor and soprano saxophones; Eddie Henderson: trumpet, flugelhorn; Gerald Hayes: alto saxophone; Benito Gonzalez: piano; Essiet Essiet: bass; Rashied Ali: drums.

Track List:
1. Mystic Journey (8:20)
2. Summer Solstice (7:08)
3. Quest (8:12)
4. Walk Spirit, Talk Spirit (10:00)
5. Say It Over Again (7:50)
6. Adrees (5:39)
7. Journey's End (6:54)
8. Starting Point (8:53)



Life is a journey. Some would say that our ultimate objective is to find our truth, our function in the grand scheme of things. Many philosophers and prophets have toiled in efforts to discover life’s meaning and the truths of the universe. Though the means and results vary, the seeker will inevitably go on his own path, simply through living, to discover his own truth.

Saxophonist Azar Lawrence has been forging his path through music for the past four decades. He has become one of the principal voices of the post-Coltrane age of jazz, a spiritual and musical descendent yet one still forging his own distinct voice and style. Lawrence’s new recording – The Seeker – is an album dedicated to those, like himself, who are on their path and the trailblazers who continue to light their way.

Lawrence’s journey began in his birthplace of Los Angeles, playing with Horace Tapscott’s community-centric Arkestra and onto R&B projects with Ike & Tina Turner, Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band and War. His jazz stars aligned after meeting drummer Elvin Jones at the age of twenty. The former Coltrane collaborator brought the young saxophonist to New York in 1973, where Lawrence lived and played with Jones as a member of the Jazz Machine.

From there, Lawrence became a member of McCoy Tyner’s ensemble, and a featured soloist with Miles Davis, most notably on Miles’s live recording from Carnegie Hall, Dark Magus. He also played with many other fantastic jazz musicians, most notably trumpeters Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw, and contemporary soul artists, such as Roberta Flack and Earth, Wind and Fire.

Lawrence’s own recordings from the 1970s have become classic examples of jazz and world influences meeting in a resoundingly modern and spiritually moving combination. He has maintained these strong influences in his music, trying like John Coltrane to create healing music for the world.

The opportunity to record The Seeker presented itself when Lawrence was booked to perform at Jazz Standard in New York City in December 2011. For the performance, the saxophonist wrote new material for an ensemble of stalwart, exemplary musicians.

Originally introduced by Kenny Garrett at a gig in Los Angeles, Venezuelan pianist Benito Gonzalez’s excellent McCoy Tyner inspired touch caught Lawrence’s ear and thus Gonzalez became a member of Lawrence’s regular ensemble, even appearing on the saxophonist’s most recent recording, Mystic Journey. Bassist Essiet Okon Essiet was introduced to Lawrence by Gonzalez and has become a regular member of his ensemble due to his outstanding blend of elements of his African origins and phenomenal bass technique.

Lawrence also recruited the great Nicholas Payton to share the front line, feeling that the trumpeter was the best choice, not only because of his beautiful sound, but also because he could best understand the concept of the music and bring his experience to bear. Rounding out the ensemble, drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts was a perfect choice on drums, as his rhythmic ideas and choices were reminiscent of their mutual friend and mentor, Elvin Jones.

The recording begins with the eastern-tinged “Gandhi,” a powerful tribute to the Indian leader, who used his inner peace and resolve to inspire a nation through nonviolent resistance, and highlights the leader’s meditative tenor sax. The driving, modal “Lost Tribes of Lemuria” is a moving composition with a stately melody perfectly suited for the spiritually attuned population of the mythic lost continent of Lemuria. The title song is a well-paced feature for Lawrence’s soprano sax and Payton’s tremendous trumpet. Gonzalez’s “One More Time” is a feisty composition with a wonderful give and take between the pianist and the two horn players.

The program continues with the prayer-like “Rain Ballad,” with Lawrence’s swathes of tenor and Essiet’s bowed bass over a lush percussion from Watts. “Spirit Night” gives a sly nod to the great Pharoah Sanders while the ensemble plunges into a wonderfully evocative and meditative piece, featuring a lovely solo from Gonzalez. Not unlike the brightest entity amongst the stars, “Venus Rising” is a brilliant ensemble workout with strong performances from all, especially the raucous Watts on drums.

As one of the best to blend the elements of earth and the spirit through music, Azar Lawrence stands apart from his peers with his searing, passionate saxophone sound and brilliant compositional style. His new live recording, The Seeker, will stand as an important milestone in the ever-fascinating musical journey that Lawrence has taken to create healing music for the world.

Azar Lawrence: tenor & soprano saxophones
Nicholas Payton: trumpet
Benito Gonzalez: piano
Essiet Okon Essiet: bass
Jeff "Tain" Watts: drums

Track List:
1. Gandhi (10:27)
2. Lost Tribes Of Lemuria (7:45)
3. The Seeker (12:04)
4. One More Time (9:21)
5. Rain Ballad (5:57)
6. Spirit Night (10:24)
7. Venus Rising (7:12)

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