Jan Harbeck Quartet - Too Darn Hot (Cole Porter)
From the album "Copenhagen Nocturne" (2011)
Label: Stunt Records
Jan Harbeck's website.
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Jan Harbeck Quartet
Jan Harbeck was born in Aarhus, Denmark in 1976. In addition to tenor sax, Jan Harbeck plays soprano, alto and baritone sax, as well as clarinet and flute. After graduating from the North Jutland Music Conservatory, Aalborg, Denmark, Jan studied at New School (Mannes College of Music) in New York. The Quartet setting finds Jan’s sax in excellent company: Henrik Gunde (piano), Eske Nørrelykke (bass) and Anders Holm (drums).
In 2010, the Danish newspaper “Politiken” wrote: “The tenor saxophone is the sound of jazz. The soul of the music. Once Copenhagen had Ben Webster to breathe life into that soul. Now, we have Jan Harbeck”.
“Too Darn Hot” was written by Cole Porter for his 1948 musical Kiss Me, Kate. Ever since Ella Fitzegerald’s jazz interpretation of the song in the mid 50’s, Too Darn Hot has been a jazz standard, even though it is not recorded very often. This modern take, recorded November 27, 2010, proves that the combination of outstanding recording facilities (STC Studios, Copenhagen) and the skill and courage to record a complete album in one day (most of the tracks on this album are “one takes”) can actually match or even surpass the recordings from the industry’s “good old days”.
Here the quartet delivers an intense, engaging performance with excellent balance. The solos by Jan, Henrik and Anders are all finely sculpted and the quality of sound production is impeccable.
