Volkskrant, 23-02-2024

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. - (Volkskrant, 23-02-2024)Translation:German saxophonist Susanne Alt, based in the Netherlands for many years, seemed to embrace electronic jazz and funk more and more.But on Royalty For Real, her sixth album, she looked for inspiration at the more acoustic jazz of trumpet player Roy Hargrove who passed away 6 years ago. Alt didn’t only know him well but they also played together, for example during the famous North Sea Jazz Festival jam sessions.Bel Air Bop revers to the latter, one of the five original compositions by Alt, a steamy piece of hardbop with James Hurt on piano, Gerald Cannon on double bass and Willie Jones III on drums. Cannon and Jones played together in Hargrove’s band for years and seem to sense what Alt intended here.She might not play the trumpet, the emotion she puts in The Nearness of you, a standard Hargrove often played, is exactly of the same expressiveness.And how delightful: pianist Hurt playing the Fender Rhodes in Hargrove’s Roy Allan and Alt’s funky Classy Cats. The already exciting music is getting wings in a way Hargrove would like.