In Focus

For his debut as a leader, tenor saxophonist Michael Karn teams up here with two of his Criss Cross labelmates, guitarist Peter Bernstein and pianist David Hazeltine. The rhythm section players, bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Gregory Hutchinson, happen to have appeared on Beyond, the 2000 release of another fine yet far more recognized tenor man, Joshua Redman. Karn is in excellent form, displaying a husky sound and an advanced, fleet-fingered improvisational approach. Bernstein contributes the singing-yet-biting solos for which he's well known. Hazeltine shines, especially as an accompanist on Karn's tenor/piano ballad "D and B." Overall, the playing is more interesting than the compositions themselves. There are some nice arranging touches, however. The quintet plays "Smile," a Charlie Chaplin tune once recorded by Dexter Gordon, in a furious double-time. They play "A Time for Love" in the usual ballad fashion, but with Bernstein providing the only accompaniment and Hazeltine laying out. Karn reaches into the hard bop vaults with Grant Green's slow-grooving "Grant's Tune" and Clifford Jordan's "The Highest Mountain." He roars on his own "One Bedroom Blues" and craftily negotiates the contours of "Momentum," the opener. The record doesn't exactly break any ground, but it's a solid straight-ahead outing that gets Karn's career as a leader off to a good start. ~ David R. Adler, Rovi