**** Sonny Fortune A BETTER UNDERSTANDING
(Blue Note)
It's easy to
distrust self-assessments of albums by musicians, but
Sonny Fortune is right in
believing that this is the best recording of his long career. Credit the
spirited support created by sidemen like drummer
Billy Hart and pianist
Kenny Barron.
But primary praise goes to Fortune; he's never sounded so focused and
assured on flute, and soprano and alto saxes. And he makes his mark here as a
distinctive composer. All nine tunes are his, and a memorable lot they are,
rhythmically snappy and tuneful. The high point is "Never Again Is Such a Long
Time," an elegy to his mother with a lengthy flute solo saturated with mournful
passion. He sounds comfortable with the niche he's carved for himself in the
jazz mainstream, proving that a centrist position in neo-bop need not imply
complacency.
-- Norman Weinstein
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