Ethan Iverson über Al Foster im Kontext der Trio-Aufnahmen mit Joe Henderson – davor meint er, „State of the Tenor“ sei im Rückblick „almost too ambitious“ gewesen und die beste Aufnahme von den Sessions, „Stella by Starlight“, erst als CD-Bonustrack veröffentlicht worden:
“Stella” is perfect shot of this fresh chemistry between Henderson and Foster on their first recording together. Foster had figured out how to utterly personalize bebop drumming, especially with his hi-hat, and you can hear it all over “Stella.” Early on, when Carter is playing a two feel, Foster does totally strange effects with his feet, a kind of staccato lurch that is still swinging.
(One time at Mezzrow, Ron Carter overheard a malfunctioning air conditioner bumping and fussing. He pointed at the unit and said, “Al Foster.”)
Once Carter goes into four, JoHen and Foster really get into it, almost like call and response from the tenor to the drums. After Henderson would play one of his marvelous convoluted phrases, Foster would respond with a blues shout at the drums. The balance of esoteric and earth was perfect, especially since Foster was also a modernist, someone who also knew every kind of popular fusion-to-funk idiom from Billy Cobham to Steve Gadd. It was “old school jazz” but hardly retro in outlook.
Hier gibt’s den ganzen Text, in dem Iverson auch erklärt, warum „An Evening with Joe Henderson“ für ihn zu den Insel-Alben zählt:
https://iverson.substack.com/p/tt-525-an-evening-with-joe-henderson
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"Don't play what the public want. You play what you want and let the public pick up on what you doin' -- even if it take them fifteen, twenty years." (Thelonious Monk) | Meine Sendungen auf Radio StoneFM: gypsy goes jazz, #165: 9.9., 22:00 | Slow Drive to South Africa, #8: tba | No Problem Saloon, #30: tba