Eric Scott Reed - Out Late [CD]

"Out Late" from saster pianist Eric Scott Reed is an invigorating top-shelf session, capturing the late-night vibrations of New York City and featuring an incredible lineup with trumpeter Nicholas Payton, tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, bassist Peter Washington, and drummer Joe Farnsworth. "Every city has its own late night vibration," says Reed. "No shade to Paris or Vegas or Philly or Los Angeles, but being in New York City is not like being anywhere else in the world." "Out Late" references the life of the musicians - the nightlife and the activity, the feeling and the energy of those NYC vibrations." Anyone who has followed Reed's remarkable story in recent years will immediately catch the double meaning embedded in the title as well. Coinciding with the release of his revelatory 2023 Smoke Sessions album "Black, Brown and Blue," Reed made the decision to exist openly in his sexuality, a decision that he feels has also led to a newfound openness and freedom in his musical life. "Out Late, of course, is also a reference to finding myself much later in life," he explains. "It's about finally being able to embrace myself - my whole totality, my whole personage, who I am, who I love, why I do what I do, and how it's all intertwined." It's a new beginning, certainly - flagged in part by the pianist's decision to add his middle name to his professional sobriquet - but "Out Late" also brings Reed full circle. In assembling the quintet of modern masters for this session, he has called on some of his earliest acquaintances. "The entire vibration of this recording was exactly that: to just flow. I came in with some sketches of ideas, and we just let the music do what it needed to do. Then we just made ourselves present. When I call on musicians, I want them to bring everything they want to bring and make it truly a collaborative effort." "I've never done a session quite like that, but am I surprised?" posits Payton. "Not necessarily, given the top-shelf line-up. He assembled the right cats to do that job." The pianist points out that every track on "Out Late" is a first take - an insistence that prioritized feeling and passion over perfection. The album was recorded in vintage fashion, with the whole band together in one room - no headphones, no overdubbing. "We recorded this album the way cats used to do back in the day," he says. "We rehearsed a song for a few minutes, and once everybody got the melody under their fingers, we went ahead and made a track while it was fresh. The energy is there; the rawness is there. Coleman Hawkins said, 'If you're not making any mistakes, you're not trying hard enough.'" For this band of modern-day greats, virtuosity is more about feeling than precision, though more often than not, they achieve both. "Out Late" evokes the lively and spontaneous vibe of those throwback record dates and the wee hours excursions on the NYC scene. At the same time, it's the statement of a mature artist, more comfortable than