Joe Fonda Quartet: Eyes on the Horizon

Few contemporary jazz cats manifest the grace and gravitas of trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, a still roaring creative force at age 82. Smith serves as spiritual mentor to Joe Fonda on the bandleading bassist’s Eyes on the Horizon (Long Song), playing with post-Coltrane intensity alongside pianist Satoko Fujii and drummer Tiziano Tononi. The four virtuosos’ music is stately and spacious, a sublimely seamless blend of composition and collective improvisation. Whether in duo or ensemble configurations, everything they play seems to emerge from a mysterious elsewhere like a “Bright Light,” as one particularly powerful tune has it, reflecting Smith’s radical incandescence. (And Smith’s Yo Miles! tributes to electric Miles Davis—with guitarist Henry Kaiser—remain essential listens.)