Saxophonist Branford Marsalis and his longstanding quartet take a thought-provoking approach to their Blue Note Records debut, Belonging. Their first long-player since 2019 is a full-album interpretation of Keith Jarrett’s 1974 ECM LP of the same name.
Yet given how pianist Joey Calderazzo, bassist Eric Revis, and drummer Justin Faulkner bond with the leader to forge a distinct collective persona, it’s not necessary to be familiar with the aforementioned jazz icon’s work. Marsalis and company can ascend to stratospheric heights from the stage, but here choose to channel their shared intensity through dense interactions on the half-dozen selections.
For instance, “Spiral Dance” is just what its title suggests. It is a rhythmic workout in which the musicians move in ultra-smooth transitions from unison statements to individual explorations of the composition’s intricacies. This perpetual motion by the foursome is just the kind of free-flowing improvisation that conjures more than a little drama during Belonging.
Interacting in the moment’s spontaneity on these recordings captured by Rob ‘Wacko’ Hunter in a New Orleans studio, the musicianship here is as pure and uncluttered as the audio quality. Mixed by the aforementioned engineer and then mastered by the expert Greg Calbi to a comparably immaculate (but not antiseptic) level, the granular detail of the arrangements and performances is readily discernible throughout Belonging.
In contrast to much of its high-spirited surroundings, “Blossom” is a languorous outing. Ideally placed as the second cut in this track’s sequencing, its positioning is indicative of Branford Marsalis’ skill as a producer: he uses his musician’s ears to construct an ebb and flow of pacing that extends throughout this sixty-one-plus minutes.
The bandleader’s solos are delicacy-matched by Calderazzo’s right behind him. Meanwhile, Revis and Faulkner’s rhythm section is in tune with their bandmates. The four’s tenderness of instrumental touch is a corollary to the ferocity they generate in selected interludes within “Solstice.”
Comprised of purposeful exchanges throughout, “Long As You Know You’re Living Yours” resides in the middle of the sonic spectrum. A quiet revelation of gaiety no doubt absorbed from the Crescent City environs, it’s an enlightening four-way instrumental conversation of a piece with “The Windup” (which actually appeared on this group’s previous LP, The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul).
Likewise, “Belonging” lives up to its name with a series of sleek parallel lines of playing that ultimately intersect. There’s a minimum of friction and a maximum of concordance on that track, which might well be an accurate means to summarize the whole of the Branford Marsalis Quartet’s Belonging.
