- Uptown – Wayne Escoffery – It’s a veritable rite of passage for mainstream tenor players to eventually have to deliver a date where they front a soulful organ trio. Some have made it a mindless blowing session, others have approached it as a chance to try to breathe some new life into a clichéd genre. Mr Escoffery’s Uptown is firmly in the latter category. When Escoffery wraps his big tenor tone around the decidedly unorthodox grooves laid down by organist Gary Versace, you know that the results won’t be run-of- the-mill bar walking. This album is never less than interesting and at times, thrilling. I hope that Escoffery, Versace and company, hit that part of town again soon.
