I have been to three of the ten concerts of Ralph Moore’s “Homecoming Tour” in the past week. It has, quite simply put, been a joy – even if occasionally surreal – to hear and to connect with the real sound of a world-class saxophone player at close quarters in three venues, on his first tour in his own name returning to the country where he was born and where he lived until the age of fifteen.
Ralph Moore’s sound, which I previously only knew from recordings, is one of positivity, of energy of intent and purpose. I first encountered his playing on Ray Brown’s album “Some Of My Best Friends Are…The Sax Players”, which has a batting order as follows: Joe Lovano, Benny Carter, Joshua Redman, Ralph Moore…He absolutely deserves to be in such company.
After this past week of hearing that sound in my ear in and in my mind’s ear, I find it even more glorious than before. The closer up one gets, the more immediate and urgent it is. Ralph Moore’s improvising lines have incredible clarity and joy. He brings an undimmed energy and enthusiasm to his playing.
There is also an authenticity factor at work in the compositions he chooses to play. It all makes sense. For example, at the 606 he announced the tune “Peace” by Horace Silver. So here’s the relevant fact which doesn’t necessarily get mentioned: fresh out of Berklee in 1985, Moore played and toured extensively as a member of Horace Silver’s band. That was just the start…the list of names he has worked with is stupendous.
I chatted to him before the Imber Court gig. He told me how much he was enjoying drummer Mark Taylor’s playing, and how much he reminded him of Billy Higgins. So, before getting in the car on the way back, I tracked down another gem of a recorded session: Billy Higgins on Freddie Hubbard’s “Bolivia”…. with Ralph Moore and Cedar Walton.
The standard of playing throughout this tour has been spectacular. Shane Forbes’s crisp attack and Deschanel Gordon’s wonderful freedom at the 606 stay in mind, as do the sax and drums of Ralph Moore and Mark Taylor on “Fungi Mama” at Imber Court. Simon Woolf somehow shoehorning Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No 3 into “My Romance” was mesmerising, and the two saxes last night were clearly having fun sliding “Boogie Stop Shuffle into “Straight No Chaser” at illegal speed.
The final gig of the tour was different from the others. At Imber Court in East Molesey, Moore played in a two-tenor format with Vasilis Xenopolous. Vasilis remembered with deep affection how formative Ralph Moore’s album “Images” from 1987 had been for him as a fourteen year old in Greece… how he had sought out the real album (rather than a bootleg copy) as his first act of homage as a new arrival at Berklee.
There are moments when the juxtaposition of the then (recordings with the absolute top flight of US jazz musicians) and the now has felt a bit surreal: here, in front of me, is a saxophone giant whose work I know from the records he made with piano giants such as Cedar Walton (the album “Composer”), or Kenny Barron (“Invitation”) or Oscar Peterson, or above all from Ray Brown’s trio with either Gene Harris or Benny Green… and I’m pinching myself…because here at the Elephant Inn in North Finchley is a really fine pianist, Alex Bryson, skilfully needing to coax whatever life and subtlety he can out of an electric keyboard. Or here I am at Imber Court in East Molesey, and here’s the wonderfully capable Fraser Urquhart doing the same. One has to try to imagine the sound of the Steinways which these pianists ought to be playing on.
This tour, cleverly constructed by bassist Simon Woolf and involving a host of different pianists and drummers , has needed the support of the stalwarts of our grassroots scene to make it work, and the unfortunate fact is that not all of these venues can offer a piano.
But there are promising signs: audiences have been good, there has been a real buzz about all the gigs I went to, and fantastically warm reception from the audiences. Here’s hoping that “Homecoming” can build from here and become a regular occurrence. New listeners please try this.
One Response
We’ve been a fan since seeing him with Horace Silver… I think it was in Los Angeles in the late 70’s. We’re playing his music since reading the article on his London tour, including all those dates with Ray Brown, Oscar Peterson, Kenny Barron, Horace Silver and those led with his own band… http://www.jazzradiodc.com