Momentum

Ralph Lalama Quartet

Criss Cross , 1994

“Yeah, that’s what Ralph Lalama sounds like – Superman Playing tenor – faster than a speeding bullet – able to leap tall arpeggios at a single bound. Seriously, this is an enormously satisfying tenor Quartet session. After listening to a guy like Lalama and the strength, logic and beauty with which he plays you wonder why he’s not a more ‘popular’ name at least as far as tenor players go . . . Playing with the kind of giant heart and swing that summons up another underrated jazz genius – Tubby Hayes, Lalama blows with unrelenting ferocity and charm. Churning out,not chourus after chorus of the latest harmonic inventions, but notes and sounds that are subservient to a kind of jazz poetry last heard from the practitioners of the heaviest and most poignant kind of jazz music-players like Mobley, Rollins, Hayes and Montgomery quickly come to mind. Detour Ahead is played with the kind of devastating heart that can put a lump in your throat ‘Wonderful’ has you dancing about marveling at Lalama’s ability to hang that poetry on a string of rocket powered eighth notes. This is a tenor player worth listening to – over and over again.” – Review from Amazon.com

Buy Now