by Tyler Schmitz
For the final Scenes from the Saxophone Section for the 2025 fall semester, Steve Slagle was up for this Sunday’s setlist. Slagle’s biggest influences were those of Latin jazz, as that’s where his professional career started. Two of his earliest gigs were working for Machito’s Afro-Cuban orchestra in ‘76, and he led the album “Rio Highlife” in Brazil in ‘86. As for notable collaborations, he’s worked with guys such as Jaco Pastorius, one of the greatest bassists of all time, and in my opinion the greatest jazz bassist that ever lived (If you’ve listened to the band Weather Report, that’s him). He’s also collaborated with Charles Mingus and Joe Lovano.
The first tune, “Grand Street Blues,” starts us off with an interesting saxophone plus guitar feature. It’s a cool duet with an echoey sounding guitar line with just the right sound to match the richness of Slagle on the sax. The hollow tones that ring out from the guitar during the sax solo also seem to exemplify this. As for Slagle himself, on this tune he likes to keep his playing to the upper registers and throw a lot of complex runs at us, whilst amplifying the simple parts with little turns and trills to keep it swinging. However, I do have to say that my favorite part of this tune still has to be that jazz guitar.
Up next is the tune “Family” off Slagle’s Alto Manhattan album, and this one brings an interesting mix between both a Latin vibe and “urban setting vibe.” I’m saying this as when you listen to it, it’s easy to both hear the tune’s Latin jazz influences, but also picture yourself within an urban, sort of New York setting; maybe not Times Square location but definitely caught up within the hustle and bustle of it all. The tune has a definite sense of urgency, as if there’s somewhere you gotta be on time, but the usage of longer notes within the tune’s phrases also provide a sense of relaxation as well. It’s a cool effect to look for and find, and I really like how it’s written in.
Last, I picked a tune off Steve Slagle Plays Monk, which is a collection of Thelonious Monk tunes. The one in particular I chose was “Bemsha Swing,” a small combo feature that lets Slagle shine on his own. So, on the original recording by Monk, this tune has both an upbeat and sort of lazy feel at the same time due to how the last notes of some phrases are held out and trail off. However, Slagle doesn’t actually do this. He instead takes the piece a lot slower and incorporates the “lazy” mood in that regard. However, don’t think he’ll slack off during the solo section. Like all the other pieces I showcased, he keeps the tune moving along with complex runs, but he then also keeps the original spirit of the piece alive by having the solo trail and fall off the same way I was describing the original recording.
