The Empress - Square One
(Cellar Music, 2025)
The Empress is a saxophone quartet brainchild of soprano and alto saxophonist Pureum Jin where she intersects with pianist Steve Ash, bassist Joey Ranieri, drummer Pete Van Nostrand, and composer/arranger Michael Lutzeier to extract the recording Square One, a collection of standards and originals with many charms indeed.
The remaining three-quarters of the quartet include alto saxophonist Erena Terakubo, tenor saxophonist Chelsea Baratz, and baritone saxophonist Lauren Sevian. Altogether, the ensemble presents 11 clinically arranged pieces that swing with a nose-bleed-inducing momentum. Arranger Lutzeier provides the two original compositions, the opener “Instant Composure” and the penultimate offering, “Reminiscing” both bright and strutting, the former in the vein of Buddy Rich and the latter, Carla Bley.
Compelling performances of Cedar Walton’s “Bolivia,” Benny Golson’s “Stablemates,” and John Coltrane’s “Mr. Syms” insure the proper velocity of the recording, while and inventive “Caravan” and a rollicking “Nica’s Dream” send the musical I.Q. upward. An impressively arranged “But Not For Me” and a sumptuous “Everything Happens to Me” form the recording's center. But the big surprise is a note perfect blues romp through Oliver Nelson’s “Yearnin’” from his superb The Blues and the Abstract Truth (Impulse, 1961). The saxophone quartet is at the top of each member’s game. Special kudos go out to the bad baritone saxophone of Lauren Sevian for keeping everything earthy and fine.