Return To Casual

By turns elegant and mile-a-minute, the Texan makes his collaborative Blue Note debut with this classy set of originals – and a Kate Bush cover. — The Guardian More…

Release Date: 7th Apr 2023
Catalogue No: 4886622
Label: Blue Note

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Winner 2023

Return To Casual

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Saxophonist and composer Walter Smith III enters a new era of his band leading career with his remarkable Blue Note debut return to casual, the long-anticipated follow-up to his self-released 2014 recording still casual. Eight original works (and one new arrangement) all composed within weeks of each other layer, displace, dismantle and reassemble among the Houston native’s fellow artists. Reprising their bandmate roles, pianist Taylor Eigsti, guitarist Matt Stevens, bassist Harish Raghavan, and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire reveal a seasoned depth of dimension alongside a featured guest appearance by pianist James Francies.

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By turns elegant and mile-a-minute, the Texan makes his collaborative Blue Note debut with this classy set of originals – and a Kate Bush cover.

The totality of Return To Casual shows that Walter Smith III has graduated from Young Lion to Jazz Great.

Walter Smith III expresses his deep modern jazz roots with an airy tenor sax tone and a ferocious but understated technique.

Everything's in balance on the tenor saxophonist's new album: Smith's pliable expressive tone is neither too heavy nor too light as he exploits the tension between the composed and the improvised.

Return To Casual

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Return To Casual

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