| Chase Sanborn is a trumpeter and flugelhorn player of exceptional talent. His new CD Perking Up! features two of his own compositions, “Rompin’ at the Rex” and “Consternation”, as well as nine songs by others, primarily standards, in the vein of, “Will You Still Be Mine,” “Who Can I Turn To” and “Lucky To Be Me.” He is accompanied by Mark Eisenman on piano, Steve Wallace on acoustic bass and Reg Schwager on guitar. There are duo and trio settings, however Sanborn’s trumpet tone — warm, inviting and always swinging — is the feature.
The opening track, “I Wish You Love”, is a haunting ballad that is soaked in emotion with Sanborn’s beautiful tone evoking images of distant love. The setting is a trio of piano, bass and trumpet. The passion of the players strikes a chord that enticingly pulls the listener in and doesn’t let go. Moving on in fine fashion, the trio sets the next number to an up-tempo, a swinging original, based on a twelve bar blues in a marching pattern with a solid driving bass line. Sanborn on muted trumpet floats over the rhythm with happy-go-lucky phrasing.
The trio of Sanborn, Wallace and Schwager are cooking on the song “Who Can I Turn To”. Reg Schwager has a great feel for the song, playing the rhythm with flowing chords, interspersed with delicate single note runs, a world-class jazz guitarist. Needless to say, when his break comes along, the song is elevated to another dimension of jazz heaven. Steve Wallace, another world class string player, takes over for Schwager and steers the song masterfully back to the trumpet of Chase Sanborn who applies the closing statement in fine fashion.
The duo of Wallace and Sanborn on the song “Invitation” composed by Kaper and Webster, produce a truly wonderful rendition of this classic tune. Sanborn plays the melody with fluid lyrical phrasing while Wallace harmonizes on bass, all the while maintaining the swinging groove. Another notable duo puts the finishing touch to the recording with a melancholy version of “Lucky To Be Me”, Mark Eisenman playing piano accompanies Chase Sanborn, who has that distinct, familiar, soft mellow tone, consistent with the flugelhorn. The duo trade riffs, give and take, and communicate on a very intense level, a delightful performance.
If you are a fan of classic jazz trumpet performed by a Trumpet King, backed up by one of Canada’s best rhythm sections, then you must have this CD, a classic, Chase Sanborn, Perking Up!
report by Paul J. Youngman – KJA Jazz Advocate – February 2007
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