Jazz Podium 6/16

Nederlands Jazz ArchiefEnglish:Saxophonist Susanne Alt hails from Germany but has long been a part of our jazz scene. Royalty For Real has the aura of a prestigious product. It is also a tribute to the late trumpeter Roy Hargrove. Hargrove was fond of participating in the after-hours sessions at North Sea Jazz; Alt occasionally played alongside him there – hence Bel Air Bop, one of the seven tracks. The saxophonist/flutist wrote five of the tracks herself, in addition to The Nearness of You and Roy Allan by Hargrove. The album was recorded in February 2022 in New York with pianist James Hurt, bassist Gerald Cannon, and drummer Willie Jones III. - Thanks Jazzpodium!! What a great kick-off of the release of Saxify in Germany! Jazzpodium is probably the oldest jazz magazine in Germany, existing for 65 years now. It's an honor!English:Jazz Podium 6/16Prince is dead but his spirit lives on. Born in Würzburg and residing in Amsterdam for a long time, saxophonist Susanne Alt was clearly moving towards funk during her previous albums. No she makes rabula rasa and throws soul and smooth jazz snippets aside. Similarly to the deseased Maestro from Minneapolis Alt creates a funk mosaic of multiple exciting parts, digging deep into funk of the 80’s and 90’s. Like Prince she is pulling the strings, Composing, arranging, producing the album and co-wrote the lyrics with the (a bit pale) vocalists. At all times she’s the spearhead of the horn sound using different saxes. Influenced by the crispy Tower Of Power sound, her colouful horn parts add a good pinch of harmonic barbs to it. Solos are kept short but work well as dashes of colour in Alt’s catchy earworm themes.There’s a name Susanne Alt maybe cannot hear anymore: Candy Dulfer. This will not stop yet but with “Saxify” the circle is round. Where Dulfer in 1989 starts to flourish under the wings of Prince, Alt brings P-Funk into the present time. In first row J.B. Horns veteran Fred Wesley stands aside her. He doesn’t only sprinkle spark emitting solos but also can be heard as vocalist in one tune. In “Throwback” he doesn’t only introduce the musical bloodline of ‘Saxify” but gets to the heart of “Saxify”: “She got the baddest cats that she could find, to play the funky music right on time”. Best way to listen: On vinyl! (Thorsten Meyer)