As a result, we were most curious to hear if the fire had mellowed.   And, we are quite pleased to report the man is blowing a tenor stronger than ever and with few peers.

By way of of a quick background Joe McPhee is a brilliant improvising musician who plays many instruments, including saxophones, trumpet, valve trombone, clarinet, piano, and sometimes electronics. He had the fortune or misfortune (depending on your vantage) to blast on the jazz scene at a time when many still thought Coltrane, Coleman and Ayler had defined the tenor's sound.  Add to his timing that during the 70s and 80s, free jazz, not to mention the jazz genre as a whole, was in a listening downswing in this country, and you begin to understand how a man of his talent could have been overlooked by so many for so long...and why, like so many others, McPhee had to find appreciative audiences in Europe to sustain his artistry.  In fact, a quick look at his 50+ recording discography shows that the majority have only appeared in the last decade; further evidence that while his talents and artistry remained intact, it took a new generational cycle in this country to catch back up with his extraordinary and ever developing oeuvre.

Grand Marquis also features Johnny McLellan on drums who is perhaps less well known to many, but certainly an artist that we are going to watch out for.  In fact, our only other experience with McLellan was his recent release, Countersink, on Leo Lab with the Keith Yaun Quintet.  None-the-less, McLellan displays an extremely flexible approach, albeit somewhat unorthodox, that is a perfect complement to the extended improvisational magic of McPhee.  McLellan is extremely adept at providing the space and rhythmic flexibility necessary for McPhee to explore and celebrate their musical dialogue.

All except one composition on this project is by McLellan, which only serves to increase the interest of this recording.  Although the compositions vary somewhat in their depth; with some like Durt Kolphy a bit too cliched in their tribute for our ears while others like the title track quickly delve to the very soul of this duet, there is an overall soulful longing about this project.   Something very special is going on here.  We know that McPhee is just going to continue his march through aural time getting more refined with age.  To quote the last lines from his poem by the same name (see our Words for Music section in the Drimala cafe), truly "He is, The Grand Marquis!"  We anxiously await the same process with McLellan.