Jazzism review (may/june 2016)

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. - Thank you Jazzism and Sjeng Stokkink!English:She’s born in Germany, living in Amsterdam since 1996. This double album is heads and shoulders above her previous albums, also released on ther own label Venus Tunes. Not only, because she welcomes more that 30 guests from the Netherlands and other countries, but above all because most of the 12 tracks have turned out very well. Opening track Susie Saxophone is a p-funk cracker right away, thanks to lead vocals by Michael “Clip” Payne and guitar work by Michael Hampton, two leaders of Parliament/Funkadelic. The cacophonic character of p-funk is lively interpreted with a lot of horn and vocal works and a lot of choir vocals on “Saxify (single version)” and “Wednesday Funk” so one could think that this side of the record should be the best of the 4, especially “Wednesday Funk” with Fred Wesley as guest of honor. But on side 2 the force continues, with Mavis Acquah (Hardsoul) on lead vocals in “The harder we fight”, Fred Wesley a lead vocalist in “Throwback” and funk fanatic Jamal Thomas in “You and me”. We can also jubilate about side 3 and 4 but we suffice by saying that Miss Alt wrote all the tracks and operated besides alto also tenor sax and flute. Really a beautiful album! (Sjeng Stokkink)