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Saxophonist Walter Smith III pays homage to his hometown of Houston, Texas on his sophomore Blue Note album, three of us are from Houston and Reuben is not. The album’s wry title signifies the lineup, which includes fellow Houston natives – pianist Jason Moran and drummer Eric Harland – while bassist Reuben Rogers, who hails from the Virgin Is lands, rounds out the quartet. Together they enliven 10 compelling Smith originals and an imaginative rendering of a Sam Rivers composition – all of which speaks to Smith’s ascending status as one of modern jazz’s most engaging talents of his generation.

Smith explains that when he assembled the new quartet for the album, he noticed that three of the members were from Houston. “And Reuben is not,” he says with a laugh. “That informed the inspirations behind the compositions. At the end of the recording sessions, I was trying to come up with a name for the album and almost all my ideas were uninspired. But then I went to the first page of my album notes and said, ‘That’s it: three of us are from Houston and Reuben is not.’ It outlined the theme and personality of the band correctly.” Moran and Harland are slightly older than Smith, yet they all attended Houston’s famed Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, a hotbed of young jazz talent where Smith and his classmates admired alumni who graduated before them and led world-renowned careers. But for all the Houston ties, the impetus for the quartet began with Rogers in mind. “There’s something that he has in his playing that’s very different from other bassists of my generation,” Smith says before explaining that Rogers shows great respect for the framework of a composition, particularly when it comes to approaching chord changes. “He brings an old school approach to playing the bass – more groove oriented and melodic, but within the construct of what the song is.”

Smith was also attracted to Rogers’ interactions with Moran and Harland when the three played with saxophonist and fellow Blue Note artist, Charles Lloyd. Smith has played with all three members of this quartet previously in some capacities, but he was especially keen on Moran and Harland’s musical accord. He applauds Moran and Harland’s ability to create spontaneous, cogent music from a small amount of written material. “It just feels like creativity with no judgment,” Smith says of their collaborative playing. “I can show up at a gig with just five notes on a page and say, ‘We have a 90-minute set.’ And they would be, ‘Alright! Let’s go.’ And they will make it work.” — (via Label)

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Label: Blue Note
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo
Country: Worldwide
Released: 2024
Genre: Jazz
Style: Contemporary Jazz

File under: Blue Note Records
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