Cory Weeds is the owner of the Cellar Restaurant in Vancouver, B.C. and the Cellar Live label. However, as he proves throughout
Big Weeds (his first recording as a leader), he is also a very good saxophonist on both alto and tenor. Teamed with three New York veteran giants (organist
Mike LeDonne, guitarist
Peter Bernstein, and drummer
Joe Farnsworth),
Weeds shows that he is on their level. This hard bop set, which consists of six of
Weeds' originals plus "It's Only a Paper Moon" and the
James Moody obscurity "Darben the Redd Foxx," features blues, ballads, and straight-ahead jazz, all played with spirit. The music may not be groundbreaking but it swings hard, sounds fresh, and finds all of the musicians in top form.
LeDonne, who originally gained recognition as a pianist, has to be one of the most underrated organists on the scene.
Bernstein is always creative within this format and
Farnsworth is consistently solid. But the main reason to acquire
Big Weeds is for the excellent playing of the leader, who creates one colorful solo after another. Hopefully there will be many more recordings in the future from this club owner/label head. ~ Scott Yanow