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Joe Fonda Quartet — Eyes on the Horizon
(Bandcamp Long Song Records LSRCD163, 2024, CD / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2025-03-21

Eyes on the Horizon Cover art

Nearly every jazz musician readily credits other musicians as their inspiration, and sometimes that relationship takes the form of actual mentorship, either formal or not. It’s often true outside of jazz as well, but often less visible. In the case of bassist Joe Fonda, trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith holds a special place, being an established musician who invited the young man into a circle of players called the Creative Music Improvisors Forum (CMIF). Now, with his own credentials firmly established, Fonda pays homage to Smith and others on Eyes on the Horizon, a set of seven compositions recorded with a quartet that features Fonda and Smith along with Satoko Fujii on piano and Tiziano Tononi on drums. We’re quite familiar with Fujii’s work, having covered dozens of her releases over the last couple of decades, and Smith is also no stranger to these pages, with everything from solo trumpet albums to full symphonic works. When I think of acoustic jazz (as opposed to the electric and electronic jazz I also like), this is what I think of. These are compositions infused with the freedom of improvisation, willing to tackle forms and harmonies far removed from the roots of blues and swing, but undeniably a descendant of those traditions. You won’t hear much in the way of walking bass lines or bebop-inflected heads, but you will hear creative expression in full flower. It’s hard to beat a lineup like this, and they don’t disappoint. Eyes on the Horizon is a fitting tribute to a master of jazz, and proof that the student has learned well.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases

Related artist(s): Wadada Leo Smith, Satoko Fujii, Joe Fonda

More info
http://joefondaquarte.bandcamp.com/album/eyes-on-the-horizon

 

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