Tenormore, the vibrant new album by saxophonist Scott Robinson, is the story of a beautiful friendship between a man and his horn. The 1924 silver Conn he plays on the session has been with him since he was a high schooler, but the relationship’s roots stretch back even further. Around age 10, Robinson recalls, “I
You’ve reached a Premium article. To continue reading, please login or start a 3-MONTH TRIAL SUBSCRIPTION for just 99 cents/month. You’ll receive unlimited digital access plus a complimentary issue of our award-winning print magazine.
Over the decades that followed, Robinson became a collector of rare and unusual instruments. “If you want a certain sound, you have to get a seven-foot saxophone,” he notes. “So I have a seven-foot saxophone.” But when he decided to base his latest recording on a classic quartet configuration, he knew the Conn tenor would be at the project’s heart.
Robinson assembled a stellar cast for Tenormore, led by drummer Dennis Mackrel, bassist Martin Wind and pianist Helen Sung. But on the opener, an unexpectedly touching rendition of The Beatles’ “And I Love Her,” it’s just Robinson on his tenor, keening the familiar melody at the top of his range. “It was a risky strategy to start an album that way,” he concedes. “But I decided to do it almost as an announcement that this was not going to be your typical tenor-and-rhythm-section jazz album.”
True enough. Robinson and company transform the chestnut “Put on a Happy Face” into a deeply somber meditation and stretch out on the dauntingly complex title track, which he feared was an experiment gone wrong. “I had a sort of crisis while writing it,” he reveals. “I thought, ‘This is horrible.’ But when I connected all the dots, it flowed and sounded completely organic. I was tickled to death.”
Then there’s “The Weaver,” a beguiling tribute to his wife Sharon Robinson, a musician turned mathematician who contributes flute to the track. “She and I go back even farther than I do with the tenor,” he emphasizes. “I’ve known her since sixth grade.”
Lucky thing. Otherwise, she might get jealous. —Michael Roberts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Chd6qrU35yo
Featured photo by Bud Glick.