RICKY FORD QUARTET

SMALLS / AUGUST 7-8

Tenor saxophonist Ricky Ford came up through the most rigorous finishing schools in jazz – Mercer Ellington's stewardship of the Duke Ellington Orchestra, followed by tenures with Charles Mingus and Abdullah Ibrahim. That lineage informs everything about Ricky's playing: the big, full-bodied tone, the rhythmic elasticity, the willingness to push into the blues without sentimentality. He emerged alongside David Murray and Chico Freeman in the late ’70s as part of a generation that honored tradition while refusing nostalgia. At Smalls, Ricky leads a quartet of seasoned improvisers: pianist Mark Soskin, whose years with Sonny Rollins shaped his harmonic flexibility; bassist Jerome Harris, fluent across jazz, funk, and experimental contexts, and drummer Barry Altschul, a free-jazz architect from the Circle days with Chick Corea and Anthony Braxton. This collective experience promises music steeped in history yet responsive to the moment's demands. - JZZ