All-Stars? Well, it’s a quartet actually – two resident in New York, one in France and the other in Austria. But never mind, it’s a terrific combination, especially tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander and pianist Harold Mabern. For sheer intensity and overflowing invention, both individually and together, they’re in a class of their own.
It’s pretty uncompromising stuff. Burnin’ in London promises an innocent set of familiar standards, but from the moment they dive into an uptempo Almost Like Being in Love, until emerging an hour later from a Latin-American treatment of Summertime, they’re at full stretch. Alexander is a constant source of melodic and harmonic surprises, with his commanding tone and muscular technique. Mabern, never content to play the docile accompanist, keeps him on his toes.
There’s a glorious waywardness about Mabern’s solos too. At one point, for instance, he wanders off into a brief parody of Erroll Garner. Bassist Darryl Hall and drummer Bernd Reiter, although slightly lost in the mix, drive it all along admirably. This set was recorded in London last summer, at the Pizza Express Jazz Club. The All-Stars return there on 17, 18 and 19.September.
