Press Reviews

Carolyn Leonhart and Wayne Escoffery, "If Dreams Come True"
Jazziz - March 2008
By: Ross Boissoneau

Vocalist Carolyn Leonhart and her husband, saxophonist Wayne Escoffery, have lent their talents to one another’s albums previously, but this is their first full-fledged collaborative effort. If there’s any justice, it won’t be their last.

From the first note to the last, it’s clear that, to borrow a cliché, the two make beautiful music together. On the opening title track, the mood gets brighter and brighter as first bassist Hans Glawischnig, then drummer Jason Brown, and finally pianist Toru Dodo enter. Then Leonhart and Escofferey breeze in with a flourish, Leonhart effortlessly sailing through the lyrics and Escofferey riding atop the melody, before venturing off for a solo accompanied by Leonhart’s wordless backing.

On their original “Nothing Left To Say,” the formula and mood are similar: upbeat and exploratory, both voice and sax reaching out, with supple accompaniment from the rhythm section. Kenny Barron’s “Never Too Soon,” with lyrics by Leonhart, offers Escofferey even more opportunity to stretch out, which he does with aplomb. Throughout the disc, he makes his case as one of modern jazz’s foremost saxophonists, albeit one who hasn’t received the press of a Joshua Redman or Branford Marsalis. But listening reveals shadings to his playing that others would do well to emulate.

For her part, Leonhart shows she not only has an enticing voice, she knows how use it. And when. On Escofferey’s “Not Without You” she’s part of the background, her vocalizing essentially another wind instrument, but she’s mostly absent as the quartet does the heavy lifting. The same is true on the Hank Jones-penned “Angel Face,” before she returns on Benny Carter’s “Key Largo.” Whatever track you choose, this disc is proof that, both for this musical couple and for listeners, dreams really do come true.

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Carolyn Leonhart and Wayne Escoffery, "If Dreams Come True"
ejazznews.com
By: Edward Blanco

A collaborative effort between husband and wife, “If Dreams Come True,” is the realization of their vision to produce a special recording and what a dream of an album it is. Carolyn Leonhart provides lush vocals as saxophonist Escoffery delivers vibrant and tasteful tenor and soprano solos on a repertoire of music from the likes of Benny Goodman, Benny Carter to Lee Morgan, Hank Jones and Kenny Barron. A tasteful and graceful session of light and beautiful jazz by an enchanting couple and cast.

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Carolyn Leonhart and Wayne Escoffery, "If Dreams Come True"
midwestrecord.com

Ah, how nice there is other domestic bliss on record than Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. The Steely Dan background vocalist and the young lion sax ace sound like they must light sparks in each other in each of their waking moments, in a good way. With sonic crispness being their sixth man on the court, this jazzy romp pings a lot of elements in the listener with it’s deceptive, free flowing improv vibe. A wild and tasty set where all the cats are wailing in top notch style making this a natch for satellite radio fans and Ipod users that like to swing and groove. Hot stuff.

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"Veneration: Live at Smoke"
allaboutjazz.com

By Edward Zucker Live at the Village Vanguard: These magical words signified a musician had made it in the world of jazz. For the current generation of musicians, Live at Smoke may now take its place.

Tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffery clearly has arrived, as evidenced on Veneration: Live at Smoke. Escoffery, who performs regularly with Tom Harrell, the Mingus Big Band and Ben Riley’s Monk Legacy Septet, has honed his chops and is in clear command of his instrument. This outing provides an excellent case that his name deserves mention in any discussion of upper echelon tenor players.

The quartet outing is dedicated to one of Escoffery’s teachers, the late Jackie McLean, and it is fitting that one of the highlights is “Melody for Melonae,” from McLean’s seminal Let Freedom Ring (Blue Note, 1962). Here the tune features haunting bow work by bassist Hans Glawischnig and wonderful interplay between Escoffery and Joe Locke on vibes, including some brilliant scatting behind Locke during his runs.

Escoffery shows his comfort with a near ballad on the elegiac “Tell Me Why,” and displays his developing identity on soprano. The album’s statement moment, and an early contender for song of the year, comes on Billy Strayhorn’s “Isfahan,” which features Escoffery in a beautiful duet with Glawischnig.

With Veneration: Live at Smoke, Escoffery has made his mark.

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"Veneration: Live at Smoke"
midwestrecord.com

Recorded live, this is a hard swinging, lyrical sax man that you are going to know about if you don’t already. Leaving an impressive streak across the New York sky since arriving in 2000, Escoffery has fallen in with the Monk legacy crew as well as playing dues with some first call crews. The jazz blowing here will simply blow your ears wide open. A progressive player that doesn’t pile on the notes and chops just for the sake of doing so, he won’t fail to impress you as you groove to this date over and over. Well done.

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"Veneration: Live at Smoke"
midwestrecord.com

By George Carroll
Wayne Escoffery plays the soprano & tenor sax like a man citing chapter & verse on how to make a horn sound credible...And, so he does while you sop up the cogent talent of this sax savant....Check out his take on ''I Waited For You,'' (jazz ballad extraordinaire). In general, the technical aspects of his performance are in a word awesome. As he plays & interprets his musical passages, he gives them artistic significance by default. Last, may I suggest that his dynamic & interpretive palette is wide-ranged, free of any melodic or harmonic taboos. On the contrary, this guys art is very real!

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Before and After with Wayne Escoffery
JazzTimes Interview by Bill Milkowski
One of the more potent new-breed tenor players on the scene today, Wayne Escoffery summons up a crackling intensity on the bandstand, pushing the envelope into some fresh new territory while showing a profound respect for the jazz tradition. The six-foot-four-inch London native of West Indian heritage has also parlayed his striking good looks into a side career in modeling, having done numerous print ads and commercials as well as appearing in the occasional TV role. Born in London, England, on Feb. 23, 1975, Escoffery moved with his mother to the United States in 1983 and by 1986 settled in New Haven, Conn. At age 11, he began private saxophone lessons and by age 16 was seriously committed to the instrument. During his senior year in high school, Wayne attended the Artists Collective in Hartford, Conn., where he met Jackie McLean, world-renowned alto saxophonist, educator and founder of both the Artists Collective and the jazz program at the Hartt School. McLean later gave Escoffery a full scholarship to attend the Hartt School, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in jazz performance and became one of McLean’s prize pupils. Escoffery later attended the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance at the New England Conservatory, where he performed and studied with such jazz veterans as George Coleman, Jimmy Heath, Clark Terry, Ron Carter and Barry Harris...

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"Intuition" - All About Jazz
By John Kelman
From the circular-breathing introduction to the titular opening track, saxophonist Wayne Escoffery makes clear that his first release, '01's Times Change , was but a calling card, announcing the arrival of a vital new player on the scene. Intuition is a confirmation and, with a band that has spent some time working together, shows what he can do when richer interplay is involved.

Escoffery's command of the instrument is impressive, able to navigate broad intervallic leaps with a sound that is robust in all registers. His writing favours the modal exploration of post-Coltrane territory, but is more concise; there are no long-winded improvisations here, but in the space provided Escoffery, trumpeter Jeremy Pelt and pianist Rick Germanson have the opportunity to contribute vibrant solos that never overstay their welcome.

Any session with drummer Ralph Peterson is likely to be exciting; he is the perfect rhythm section foil for Escoffery's writing, driving each soloist to greater heights of intensity during the ostinato solo passages of "The Alchemist." As torch-bearer for the late Art Blakey, his polyrhythmic fervour makes the kit an equal partner, not just a rhythm section instrument.

Thankfully, with the intensity of compositions including the title track, Pelt's "Tightrope" and a cover of Joe Henderson's "The Gazelle," Escoffery knows when to take things down a notch or ten. "The First One" is a delicate ballad that is as much a feature for bassist Gerald Cannon's resonant sound and tasteful choices as it is for Escoffery's tenor, which is as tender on this track as it is fiery on the more uptempo numbers. Escoffery also takes a chance with a solo rendition of “I'm Old Fashioned,” where he remains faithful to the truth of the piece while managing to imbue it with a personal stamp. As impressive as his playing is on the harder swinging numbers, it is when he is laid absolutely bare that the essence of his style truly emerges.

To further broaden the diversity of the album, Escoffery calls on his wife, singer Carolyn Leonhart, to deliver a rendition of the standard "I Should Care" that ought to be a benchmark for singers feeling the need to interpret the Great American Songbook. Over a Latin-tinged 5/4 reworking by Escoffery with Germanson's Fender Rhodes lending an early Return To Forever feel, a comparison that is further cemented by Escoffery's Joe Farrell-like soprano sax, Leonhart's delivery is the perfect confluence of passion, individuality and faithfulness. "Enduring Freedom," again with Germanson's Rhodes, explores transitional Miles territory, with Pelt paying homage without losing his own stylistic sense, more deeply rooted in Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard.

With Intuition Wayne Escoffery has clearly arrived. While stylistically entrenched in post bop terrain, his writing has enough personality to distinguish it. And by surrounding himself with a group of players who have the intuition and inventiveness to take any material and give it a distinctive stamp, he has created a set that positively shimmers.

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"Time Changes" - All About Jazz
By Dave Nathan
This is London native Wayne Escoffery's first entry on the Nagel Heyer label. Rather than going with a crowded program, the sax player opted for eight tunes leaving him enough time on this hour plus album to examine and probe possibilities and opportunities to create a special listening adventure. The short answer to whether he accomplished that objective is "yes". It helped to include tunes written by masters of free and creative jazz as Yusef Lateef ("Water Pistol") and Sam Rivers (”Beatrice”). It also helped to have studied at one of the country's most forward looking jazz programs, Jackie McLean's Hartt School. His time was not wasted there as he respects what each tune has to give in terms of emotion, musical ideas and harmonic texture.

On Jobim's lovely "Triste", Escoffery and cohorts state the melody, then go down a variety improvisional paths, effectively using one of music's oldest techniques, repetition to good effect, before revisiting the melody more than seven minutes later. There's some straight from the hip hard bop on the kick off track, an Escoffery composed "Come Back Lucky", a tribute to the great and tragic Lucky Thompson. One aspect of Escoffery's playing setting him apart from saxophonists of his generation is his tone. Although he is playing creative jazz, he avoids the shrillness of sound that many believe has to be part and parcel of that style. If this album is any indication, Escoffery knows that music is supposed to give pleasure, not give one a headache. Recommended.

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Interview w/ Jazz Hot: La revue internationale du jazz
By Jean Szlamowicz
...Yes, after leaving London at age eight, my mother and I traveled a few places before settling in New Haven, Ct. We lived briefly in Montreal, Canada; Miami, Florida; and Atlanta, Georgia. New Haven was a great place for a child to be exposed to the arts. It is a very culturally and artistically rich place. My mother worked for Yale University so I had access to the University’s libraries, museums and theaters and she made it a point to take me to these places as much as possible....

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