JEFF RUPERT QUARTET

SEA SPELL

Rupe Media

 Jeff Rupert, tenor saxophone/composer; Richard Drexler, piano; Ben Kramer, bass; Marty Morell, drums.

This awesome quartet has been playing together for the last two decades. As a collective, they have their own unique sound. Jeff Rupert is not only a smooth saxophonist with a lovely tone, he is also the composer of six songs, out of the nine on this album.  The quarter opens with a cover of “Spring Can Really hang You Up the Most” that is caramel candy sweet, and played smooth as satin by Rupert on tenor saxophone.

Their cover of “Mambo Inn” will entice you to find your dancing shoes and get busy!  Marty Morell on drums pumps the music full of Latin joy.

Jeff Ruper is the current Pegasus Professor and Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Central Florida (UCF).  He also is the Musical Director of The Flying Horse Big Band. Additionally, he leads The Jazz Professors, a sextet with multiple album releases.  In 2024, he released an album titled, “It Gets Better” featuring Kenny Barron, Peter Washington and Joe Farnsworth.  I love his tone, so warm and inviting.  His compositions are well-written, and I especially enjoyed “Sea Spell” with its memorable melody and lilting, easy-listening tempo.  It played like a sunny cruise on the open ocean, with calm seas lapping at the hull of his jazzy ship.

Another one of his original songs is called “A Breeze Through the Keys.”  Rupert has a way of locking into a melodic phrase and building a song from the first eight bars. This particular composition floats through my listening room, soothing, but using surprising intervals to create an intricate but compelling melody.  It invites Richard Drexler to spotlight his brilliance on the 88-keys.  “Orca-Stration” is even more interesting.  The tempo picks up and the play on words reflected in the title flashes us to the ocean, Florida wildlife, combined with his musical career of orchestrating and performing.  Just as “A Breeze Through the Keys” reminds me of a piano and the Florida Keys.

“Wednesday’s News” is a cool way to end this record. It’s a tune rooted in the blues and propelled like a slow swing, by Ben Kramer’s double bass locking hands with Morell’s drum licks. The two dance beneath the saxophone solo and hold the groove in place like super-glue.  This tune is another favorite tune of mine on this recording.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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