The Future Was Yesterday

One notices immediately after listening to this cd the influence of the disciples of Coltrane. Brad Wheeler, an unique tenor saxophonist, has a strong sound, with a soft vibrato. A Chicago musician, he has the blues in his playing, joined by an appropriate guitarist. Near to Von Freeman, often present next to Kurt Elling, arranger and teacher known in the city of great lakes, he constructs in his first cd under his own name, a Jazz which isn't indulgent, assuming a soulful local tradition and respecting the fundamental post-Coltaniens. He is a composer who is translated by sequences that are very balanced and adapted to a Quintet which is also well constructed.
Knowing his producer and pianist Laurence Hobgood, Wheeler hears his work in harmony, his chord progressions in particular, in the most fluid direction possible. One other characteristic, verifiable in the term soloist (especially in his soprano phrasing) is verified in the group improvisations. A taste of solidarity and a know how, clearly exposed.