Quartet Sessions

“All the Things You Are”

(La Reserve)

At the age of 30, tenor saxophonist Chad Lefkowitz-Brown has toured the world and performed at bucket-list venues such as Carnegie Hall and Madison Square Garden. Having studied at the Brubeck Institute, he performed frequently with the fellowship program’s namesake, and has toured and recorded with trumpeter Randy Brecker. And the New York native certainly knows his way around the Great American Songbook. In fact, Lefkowitz-Brown has crafted a few recordings dedicated to the music that’s long entered the jazz lexicon. The saxophonist returns with another album of enduring jazz staples on his latest release, Quartet Sessions (La Reserve), leading his four-piece acoustic band through 11 numbers that span the history of the genre, including numbers by Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins and Herbie Hancock. Lefkowitz-Brown’s muscular improvisations shine brightly throughout, as heard on his joyful read of the Jerome Kern ballad “All the Things You Are.” He’s sympathetically supported by an excellent combo consisting of pianist Steven Feifke, bassist Alex Claffy and drummer Corey Fonville. Feifke and Fonville both carve out exciting solos, and the energy never flags as the band locks onto a groove and sizzles all the way to the exit.