Willie Morris is a young tenor saxophonist originally from St Louis, and Attentive Listening is his second album as leader after Conversation Starter (2023), also on Posi-Tone. On this session he’s joined by four jazz veterans: alto saxophonist Patrick Cornelius (twenty years on the New York scene, and leader or co-leader of ten albums); pianist Jon Davis (who’s played with greats such as Joe Henderson and Stan Getz, and spent several years performing with Jaco Pastorius); bassist Boris Kozlov (two Grammies, and long-time bassist, arranger and musical director for the various Mingus Dynasty bands); and drummer Rudy Royston (educator as well as performer, with a 30-year career and appearances on over 50 jazz releases).
It’s august company for a young player but Morris easily holds his own, achieving a tone, phrasing and fluency similar to his major influence Joe Henderson. ‘I spent a three-year period in my early twenties,’ he’s said, ‘listening to almost nothing but his albums.’ Another influence might be (perhaps inevitably, for a tenor player) John Coltrane, judging by how the album opens: the spacious beginning of ‘Water Fountain of Youth’ reminded me of ‘Psalm’ from A Love Supreme, before kicking up several gears into a tight and fast modal number that wouldn’t be out of place on a Miles album from one of his two great quintets. It’s the first of five originals penned by Morris. ‘Terminal Velocity’ is a tender ballad with a similar mood to McCoy Tyner’s ‘Search for Peace’ (which, incidentally, featured Joe Henderson in its original version); ‘The Imitation Game’ is brisk post-bop; ‘To Worlds Unknown’ is another quiet reflective number; and the stop-start feel of ‘Delusion of Understanding’ is perhaps a nod to Morris’s statement that ‘human behaviour is far too complex to fully understand’.
The remaining five numbers include two originals from the band’s alto saxophonist Cornelius, and two from the band’s pianist Jon Davis. The first Cornelius number is a lovely bossa called ‘Leaving Paradise’, on which Cornelius switches to alto flute and Royston adds percussion. It was inspired by a return trip from a vacation, and judging by the piece’s sunny mood I can’t help imagining it was a beach holiday somewhere tropical. Cornelius’s other contribution is a rhythm changes number called ‘Et Tu, Caribou?’ Played with joy, verve and a strong bebop feel, it’s almost a dead ringer for Charlie Parker’s ‘Moose the Mooch’ – a debt wittily acknowledged in the tune’s name, a caribou (N American for reindeer) being a smaller version of the deer family than the giant moose.
The first Davis number is a cheerful post-bop number called ‘Moving Right Along’ and the second is the album’s closer, ‘Daly Minor Blues’, which is a tenor/piano duet. The latter was originally meant as an ensemble piece, but Davis and Morris were working through the tune together not realising that the tape was already rolling, and the result was so good they decided to keep it. Great decision, because it has the perfect feeling of spontaneity and intimacy for closing an album, as well as providing contrast from the ensemble pieces.
The one cover is ‘La Mesha’, a ballad penned by trumpeter Kenny Dorham and originally performed by the Joe Henderson quintet on Henderson’s 1963 album Page One. It’s a quartet performance and noticeably shorter than the original (5:21 versus 9:08) but that’s still plenty of time for a dreamy piano opening and for Morris to unfurl a heartfelt solo that does Henderson’s memory proud.
And speaking of solos, the album has plenty from both leader and co-composers Cornelius and Davis, but not from Kozlov and Royston: a slight shame as their rhythmic support throughout is superb and worthy of praise, and I’m sure their solos would have been fantastic too. Also worth praising is the recording quality, which throughout is big, warm, immersive, and finely detailed.
All in all, this is a great album from a rising star, and kudos also to Posi-Tone Records for promoting new talent.
