Label: Blue Engine Records, 2025

Personnel - Alexa Tarantino: alto and soprano saxophones, flute; Steven Feifke: piano; Philip Norris: bass; Mark Whitfield Jr.: drums; + Guests - Cécile McLorin Salvant: vocals (#6,9); Keita Ogawa: percussion (#9).

Released on the Jazz at Lincoln Center’s label, Blue Engine Records, The Roar and the Whisper marks the fifth studio album by award-winning saxophonist and composer Alexa Tarantino. A member of the prestigious Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the all-female quintet Artemis, Tarantino forms a pliant quartet with pianist Steven Feifke, bassist Philip Norris, and drummer Mark Whitfield Jr, inviting guest vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant to join them in two pieces, the last of which also features percussionist Keita Ogawa.

This is a work of contagious post-bop irradiation that begins with “Inside Looking Out”, a mutable, dynamic piece showcasing strong interaction between Tarantino and Feifke—an encouraging accompanist who is very much in sync with the saxophonist’s moves—and a swinging rhythmic core propelled by Norris’ rolling bass lines. Smokin’ and soulful modal Coltranean inflections run deep here, particularly during Tarantino’s soprano solo. The title track, “The Roar and the Whisper”, balances stealth and restraint before erupting into bursts of energetic fire.

While Wayne Shorter’s “This is For Albert” is rendered with balletic agility, “Provoking Luck” carries a blissful hard-bop swagger in the vein of Art Blakey, Clifford Brown, or Lou Donaldson, with rhythm changes that sparkle flawlessly. On the latter, Tarantino plays alto, but she’s equally soulful on soprano sax and flute, showing off her formidable chops on the graceful waltz “Portraits of a Shadow” and “Luminance”, respectively. The latter comes wrapped in a gentle Brazilian bossa feel.

McLorin Salvant brings her vocal charisma to her own composition “Moon Song”, a ballad grand by flute airiness, and to Billy Strayhorn’s “Tigress”, a Latin-tinged cocktail, where she sings wordlessly to evoke an exotic soundscape, garnished by Ogawa’s percussive textures and Tarantino’s lithesome soprano.

Narrated with a feisty temperament, “Back in Action” features the alto sax front and center, radiating an infectious energy and swinging verve. The track includes exchanges with the drummer, who punctuates with a series of playful swells. On The Roar and the Whisper, Tarantino and her ensemble bring undeniable quality to both originals and covers.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Inside Looking Out ► 04 - Portraits of a Shadow ► 06 - Moon Song

Label: You & Me Music, 2024

Personnel - Hyeonseon Baek: vocals; Lucas Pino: tenor saxophone (#1,4,6,10); Kevin Hays: piano; Linda May Han Oh: bass; Jochen Rueckert: drums.

The up-and-coming Korean-born, New York-based jazz singer Hyenseon Baek makes his debut alongside high-caliber accompanists and improvisers, including pianist Kevin Hays, bassist Linda May Han Oh, and drummer Jochen Rueckert. The energetic tenorist Lucas Pino enriches four tracks of the program, which encompasses originals and covers.

Baek, who puts his heart on each of the songs, starts off with “Caravan”, tackling it with a smooth, soulful approach reinforced by dancing bass lines and an appealing percussive background. The main theme is beautifully sung, followed by galvanizing solos from Hays and Pino, who end up dialoguing with the vocalist by the end. Diving deep in jazz tradition while showing refined interpretative skills, Baek advances to Joe Henderson-penned “Black Narcissus” with confidence, rambling free with Oh’s bass lines in the first instance.

The vocal composure in the treatment of soft ballads is admirable, and Mingus’ “Duke Ellington’s Song of Love” comes with a coy sweetness, revealing some analogies with Billy Strayhorn’s “Lush Life”, which feels just a tad too long here. Pianist Jimmy Rowles’ classic “A Timeless Place”, also known as “The Peacocks”, is interpreted with poignant pathos, with Baek giving the best expression to Norma Winstone’s impressive lyrics.

If these slower pieces are explored with gentle moodiness, then “West 4th St.”, a Baek original inspired by the vibrant New York jazz scene, flows with hard-bop energy both in its Korean and English versions, where gorgeous melodic parallels between Baek and Pino deserve attention. Another original, “My Temptation”, carries a Latinized, bolero-ish feel that comes from the bouncing bass groove, featuring Pino as a soloist.

Baek is warm and lyrical throughout, his engaging music packed with the wisdom of these musicians’ hard-learned ears. It’s an auspicious debut, one that anticipates a promising career.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Caravan ► 02 - Black Narcissus ► 10 - West 4th St (English version)