RALPH BOWEN“Total Eclipse”
(Posi-Tone Records)
Blue Note Records gave Canadian saxman Ralph Bowen his big break in 1985 by putting him in Out of the Blue, a sextet of hard-bopping young lions that included Kenny Garrett, Ralph Peterson and Charles Fambrough. Now 27 years later, Bowen links up with another set of young lions, and the result is the most exciting release of Bowen’s four-year run with Pos-i-Tone, the successor to Blue Note as the No. 1 purveyor of straight-ahead jazz. Spurred on by Jared Gold’s ram-tough Hammond B3 and Mike Moreno’ssingular guitar sound, Bowen is blowing hard and nasty on the opening title track, and he keeps throwing fastballs throughout the date. Moreno and Gold strut their nasty solo stuff on “Behind the Curtain” and “On Green,” while Rudy Royston’sstatus as one of the genre’s best young drummers gets yet another boost. “Total Eclipse” has the combination of artistry and toughness trad jazz needs to stay relevant. Props to Bowen for not standing pat.
