Chris Potter Underground -

Follow the Red Line-Live at the Village Vanguard

Released July 2007
Sunnyside Records
Catalog# 3075

Personnel:
Chris Potter: tenor saxophone, bass clarinet
Adam Rogers: guitar
Craig Taborn: Fender Rhodes
Nate Smith: drums

Song Title

01. Train - (with Chris Potter)

02. Arjuna - (with Chris Potter)
03. Pop Tune #3 - (with Chris Potter)
04. Viva Las Vilnius - (with Chris Potter)
05. Zea - (with Chris Potter)
06. Togo - (with Chris Potter)

20:14 16/09/2007
pajamadeus

Easily the top regarded tenor saxophonist of his generation -- Sonny Rollins and
Joe Lovano still get more votes in polls, but that's it. I resisted for a long
time, but his Lift: Live at the Village Vanguard won me over with its quartet
simplicity and high energy. The lineup was typical sax-piano-bass-drums, with peers
Kevin Hays - Piano, Scott Colley - Bass, and Bill Stewart - Drums. In 2005 Potter
recorded Underground with a funkier quartet: Craig Taborn on Fender Rhodes, Wayne
Krantz on guitar, Nate Smith on drums, with no bass. The new Village Vanguard
record takes that group with Adam Rogers instead of Krantz into the spotlight and
turns up the heat. The highlight is called "Pop Tune #1" as if jump, jive and wail
were just an exercise, but all save one of the cuts are like that, at least once
they warm up. The slow change of pace is nice too, and he left the soprano in the
hotel. This may just go to show that his postbop stuff critics and fans adore is
too fancy for me