Live at Smalls Joel Frahm

• 1 Short Rack (Live) 11:23
• 2 A Little Extra (Live) 07:07
• 3 What's Your Beat? (Live) 09:39
• 4 Song for Mom (Live) 06:43
• 5 Chelsea Bridge (Live) 10:44
• 6 Alert (Live) 07:48
• 7 Steeplechase (Live) 10:18
• Total Runtime 01:03:42

Info for Live at Smalls

There's lots of great guitar/tenor interplay in this live set from Joel Frahm -- a date that's recorded with a wonderfully warm feel that almost makes it top any of Frahm's studio sessions! Tracks are nice and long, and really balance a lot of Frahm's snaking tenor lines with the guitar of Kurt Rosenwinkel -- in a quartet that also features Otis Brown III on piano, and Joe Martin on bass. The set features many originals by Frahm -- including "Alert", "Song For Mom", "A Little Extra", and "Short Rack" -- plus versions of "Chelsea Bridge" and "Steeplechase"

"Live at Smalls captures the energy of New York jazz with very strong performances by all — and particularly captivating solos from Rosenwinkel. We also see Frahm’s compositional prowess, with a range of diverse and innovative tunes. But most importantly, the album demonstrates Joel’s complete emotional vulnerability on the instrument, allowing him to communicate feelings in the purest form." (somethingelsereviews.com)

Joel Frahm, tenor saxophone
Joe Martin, double bass
Kurt Rosenwinkel, guitar
Otis Brown III, drums

Recorded Live at Smalls Jazz Club, February 28 & March 1, 2011.

Joel Frahm
After more than three decades as a regular on the New York City club circuit and three years in the Nashville music scene, award-winning saxophonist Joel Frahm has joined the music faculty at Texas State University. He has appeared alongside noted jazz artists such as Brad Mehldau, Bill Charlap and Matt Wilson and has recorded with Dianne Schuur, Freddy Cole, Jane Monheit and others. He has performed at night clubs, music clinics, and jazz festivals around the world. Fans know him for his big tenor sound - fluid, inventive and full of passion.

Joel Frahm is known in the jazz world as an icon of the tenor saxophone. An unsurpassed emotional projection always characterizes his playing which draws on the breadth the American musical tradition. Star pianist Brad Mehldau, his childhood friend, praises his ability of ‘getting to the heart of the song, immediately, from the first note.’ Joel’s trio follows in the footsteps of the legendary sax trios of Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson and Steve Grossman: an open-hearted, virtuosic style, given a fresh twist by Joel Frahm and co.

Currently living in music city Nashville, Joel Frahm has honed his craft in the jazz clubs of New York for more than thirty years. He has collaborated with, among others, Betty Carter, Kenny Barron en Freddy Cole. He made the duo album Don’t Explain with Brad Mehldau. On our stage he has previously appeared in the bands of Omer Avital. His current trio with bassist Dan Loomis and drummer Ernesto Cervini was founded in Toronto. This fall will see the release of their new album, the follow-up to the widely acclaimed The Bright Side.

This album contains no booklet.