JIM SNIDERO

For All We Know

Snidero, alto saxophone; Peter Washington, bass; Joe Farnsworth, drums. Savant SCD-2215 (CD). 2024. Snidero, prod.; Kent Heckman, eng.

PERFORMANCE SONICS

Jim Snidero is a veteran of the jazz wars. Arriving in New York in 1981, at age 23, he was a sideman in important bands and produced 26 recordings as a leader. But until For All We Know, he had never made a saxophone trio album. That’s surprising given that Snidero is known as both a master and a scholar of the alto saxophone. No format can shine a light on the instrument like a saxophone trio.

This two-track tape was restored by long-time Hendrix producer Eddie Kramer. It sounds outstanding. In this minimalist setting, lacking a chordal instrument, the saxophone is exposed, akin to a quarterback dropping back to pass without linemen upfront for protection.

Turns out, Snidero is a fearless quarterback, and a trio brings out his best. Bursting with ideas, he proclaims them in his huge, pure alto saxophone sound. Expertise in phrasing allows him to shape those creative onslaughts into whole forms. He does not need a pianist or guitarist to fill the open musical space in a saxophone trio.

The title track is a love song of the deepest longing. Snidero plays it so hard that the yearning of “For All We Know” becomes more like soul searching. At the end, he breaks out in a passionate two-minute unaccompanied cadenza, the longest he has ever recorded. He derives subtle, alluring variations from John Coltrane’s “Naima” and turns Charlie Parker’s “Parker’s Mood” into a slow, relentless, bluesy burn. The best may be “My Funny Valentine,” where Snidero lingers for eight minutes and keeps discovering new emotional resonances within its famously ambiguous long form.

The rhythm section, bassist Peter Washington and drummer Joe Farnsworth, also sounds inspired by the freedom of the saxophone trio format. Jim Snidero has just made the album of his life.—Thomas Conrad