What a perfectly apt album title. We have our ‘stars’; four of them. They’re aligned. All
independent factors have come together – at the ideal moment.
Norwegian guitarist Frode Kjekstad has worked with luminaries including Joe Farnsworth,
Frank Foster, Johnny Griffin and Lonnie Smith (2004 album New York Time also featuring
Erik Alexander).
English organ and piano maestro Roy Powell’s collaborations have included performances
with Arild Andersen, Eddie Daniels, Art Farmer and Dave Liebman.
German drummer Frederik Villmow owns an equally impressive credit list: Dave Kikoski,
Benny Benack III, Chris Potter and Vince Mendoza.
American saxophonist Erik Alexander has performed and recorded with a celestial
constellation including: Harold Mabern, Ron Carter, Kenny Barron, Cedar Walton and Pat
Martino.
What elements combine to produce a perfect jazz album? Concise, motivative themes
(‘head-solos-head’ arrangements), intricate phrasing, freedom for soloists to improvise
over (complex) chord progressions, interdisciplinary elegance and symbiosis. Stars
Aligned is truly an exemplary example.
• The jazzily-titled opener, The Phineas Trane, explodes with all the above-mentioned
ingredients with powerful and punchy solos from all.
• Your perfect jazz album might well contain a joyous tune in 3/4 time, a jazz waltz –
Open Ocean is exactly that.
• If you like solid, walking-tempo Blues – check out Blues4u!
• Let’s trade bars of Funk with bars of Swing and we have Bonebreaker.
• We need a seductive, contemplative ballad. Moon Song more than fits the bill.
• The eponymous Stars Aligned is a fast-paced bluesy outing in a minor key – with major
delivery.
• Latin overtones infuse Hammond Cheese with its groovy head and heady solos.
• Back to a ballad, the exquisite Foggy Morning in the Woods feels – exactly like that.
• Jingles, with it’s call-and-response head is a minor key (non-melancholic!) intense,
blistering excursion (underlined by the spontaneous, triumphant ‘yeah’ at the end).
Connect virtuosity, immaculate timing, positivity with a soupçon of serendipity – and the
stars align. A perfect jazz album.
David Fishel©2025
www.davidfishel.info