Heavy Hitters live recording night 1 of 4 Frankie’s recap

I come to you fresh off the first of four shows by The Heavy Hitters from New York City – Mike LeDonne on piano, Eric Alexander on tenor saxophone, Vincent Herring on alto saxophone, Kenny Washington on drums, and Alexander Claffy on bass – at Frankie's. All are sold out; I made my reservation for last night on August 24th!

The Heavy Hitters released an album on Cellar back in January 2023:

Instead of Claffy on bass, it's Peter Washington on the record. (All further Washington references here are Kenny the drummer.)

So I want to tell you about what I just heard...

The image burned into me by the strength of their playing is Pelt flanked by the two saxes, Alexander on his right and Herring on his left, with the rhythm section going flat-out behind them — except LeDonne, cool as a cucumber.

This first night was the dry run, so technically the live recording is of the next three nights. That made for an especially playful attitude, with quick starts and stops to solos and massive volleys of eighth-notes from everyone, like they were trying out all their ideas.

Pelt was laser-focused every time he played, laying forceful high notes upon us in the front row. Herring and Alexander were an interesting contrast, with Herring and his pure alto tone shining through in simplicity and Alexander playing all of the tenor up and down in the way that earns him renown. Alexander had star power, him and his circular tinted shades.

LeDonne’s demeanour was as collected as can be, but his chords were incisive on all the uptempo tunes. He’s the quiet boss of the band and did all the talking between tunes.

Claffy, the youngest Heavy Hitter, endeared himself with his visible exertion playing fast for so long — he never sounded like he missed a step, though.

Washington was so vital, rolling every beat on and on and throwing shots from the snare to all comers. His drum solos were the biggest applause moments; he dialed up every groove and held the tempo firm while making it feel like acceleration.

And they were loud. This is my rock concert, I don’t need to know every tune because the physicality of the performance just did the trick. It’s the feeling I’ll be hoping to find again as many times as possible this coming year.

What they played

The band played a fair amount of music that they have already released, probably because this night was the dry run.

Set one

• “JB”, by LeDonne, named for Jaki Byard — an intense double-time minor blues. LeDonne has recorded it in a trio with Ron Carter and Joe Farnsworth
• “You’ll Never Know What You Mean To Me”, also by LeDonne, a cheery hard bop tune, Pelt soloing with a harmon mute. LeDonne and Alexander have recorded this tune together as the Groover Quartet
• “Chainsaw” by Alexander, from their record — a double-time blues with the mood of “Empyrean Isles” by Herbie Hancock
• “Ground-Dation” by LeDonne, a burning closer with blistering Coltrane-changes harmony. Possibly a new tune that they’re recording. The band members gave me the vibe of, “This tune is super hard, when we’ve tried it before it trainwrecked, but this time was pretty good!”

Set two

• “Bluesit”, a blues that is the closing track on their record
• “Little Lucas” named for Alexander’s son, featuring some challenging changes. Alexander has recorded the tune multiple times under his own name and with One for All: here’s one
• “It’s Magic”, the only standard and ballad of the night, with LeDonne and Alexander playing duo
• “Lord Walton” named for Cedar, sounding “Bolivia”-style with Washington delivering that special swinging pulse from the 70s. Possible new tune, but their record has a different tune called “Cedar Land”
• “That’s What’s Up”, bluesy hard bop with everyone taking brief solos to wrap things up. Possible new tune

Heavy Hitters on other Cellar albums

There's plenty on record from Cellar featuring these masters. First, Lewis Nash's The Highest Mountain (2012) has Herring, Pelt, and Peter Washington:

And Louis Hayes' Live at Cory Weeds' Cellar Jazz Club (2014; I was there at the recording in 2011!) has Herring and Pelt:

LeDonne is on a handful of Cellar records from Cory's debut Big Weeds to Let's Groove: The Music of Earth, Wind, & Fire to Steve Kaldestad's Straight Up.

Alexander is on One For All Invades Vancouver!