CD review: James Moody – Wave Live 2022: Video, CD cover

Performances by the saxophonist James Moody are often frustrating: he’s one of the great living saxophonists, but he sometimes seems at a loss over what to do with his talent. An extraordinary improviser, he’s assimilated the ascetic, blunt language of 1960’s modalism into the slippery, elliptical phrasing of 1940’s bebop. And he’s a master of chords, making each chorus he takes a wonder of harmonic invention.

His first set at Sweet Basil on Wednesday illustrated some of his problems: his rhythm players -Todd Coolman on bass and Akira Tana on drums – don’t have an urgent bone in their bodies, and where Mr. Moody often plays as if his house is on the line, they sound as if they’re on a fishing expedition.

Mr. Moody at his best plays tunes that he respects, and he opened his show with ”Invitation.” Starting unacompanied on tenor saxophone, with overtone-rich sound, he launched into a slashing, cliff-hanging solo; taking bebop licks, he would replace notes, instead of letting them resolve easily into cliches, or take unexpected turns down dark alleys. Constantly referring to the searching, meditative melody, he handed in a masterpiece of thematic improvising. To finish the set, he played a blues song, which he called ”Take Out Your False Teeth, Papa, Mama Wants to Scratch Your Gums.” A marvel of ingenuity, with melodic patterns forcing their way out of conventional harmony, it let him draw on all his resources.

But when he plays such trivial tunes as ”Wave,” he falters. Using it as simply a set of chord changes, and playing flute (his third instrument of the evening), he jammed his solos with notes, and the performances became an exercise. Mr. Moody is brilliantly funny and an astounding saxophonist. It’s a shame to see him struggle when he doesn’t have to.