Horizons

by Scott YanowCharles McPherson's fifth Prestige album (which was reissued in 1998 in the Original Jazz Classics series) differs from the first four in that McPherson contributed four of the six originals. Assisted by pianist Cedar Walton, the up-and-coming guitarist Pat Martino, bassist Walter Booker, drummer Billy Higgins and (on three of the songs) the obscure but fluent vibraphonist Nasir Hafiz, the altoist is in typically swinging and boppish form. Best among his originals are the catchy "Ain't That Something" and "She Loves Me," while "Lush Life" is taken as an alto guitar duet. By playing bop-oriented music in 1968, Charles McPherson could have been considered behind the times, but he was never a fad chaser and he has long had a timeless style. This music still sounds viable and creative decades later.