Nick Hempton & Cory Weeds : Horns Locked

Nick Hempton & Cory Weeds

(Cellar Music Group)

By Frank Alkyer  |   Published February 2025

If you’re looking for two saxophones sounding badass, swinging and flat-out fun, drop the needle on Horns Locked, the new recording by tenormen Nick Hempton and Cory Weeds. This is an old-school blowing session between two friends having a blast. Backed by Nick Peck killin’ it on the Hammond B-3 and Jesse Cahill driving the beat on drums, the band launches into this “tenor battle” with a slammin’ version of James Moody’s “Last Train From Overlook” that get the feet tapping from the downbeat. The whole album is just smiles and bluesy grease with a heartbreakingly slow “Polkadots And Moonbeams” aimed right at your heart. The tenor compatriots — Hempton from New York, Weeds from Vancouver, Canada — dig into the work of their heroes, no doubt. Dexter Gordon’s “Soy Califa” brims with the energy of trading fours and playing unison lines. Gene Ammons’ “The One Before” grooves along on a cloud of B-3 magic. But both artists bring in their own work, which lives up to the rest of the set. Hempton’s “Change For A Dollar” serves as an extreme blowing vehicle and both of these guys charge hard, playing fierce and dropping in a few pearls. Was that a glimpse of “Mona Lisa” there? Weeds offers up “Conn Men,” and if you know about saxophones, you know exactly what he’s talking about. It’s a sweet, swinging number. Weeds’ arrangement of “When You’re Smiling” is perfectly placed near the end of the set. And “Loose Ends” closes this jam session with exactly the kind of toe-tapper you’d expect for on such a roller coaster of tenor madness. Recorded partly live in the studio and partly in front of a sold-out crowd at Frankie’s Jazz Club in Vancouver, Horns Locked is more of a swinging love fest than a cutting contest. These are two masters of the tenor saxophone enjoying the history of that instrument and adding some of their own. With Peck and Cahill at their side, this is a fiercesome foursome that should be playing heavily on the festival circuit this summer. They are just that much fun. “The album is a tonic for uncertainty,” said Hempton in the press materials. “Simple songs, unambiguous melodies and hard driving rhythms to bolster us in precarious times.” Drink it up. Nick Hempton and Cory Weeds are serving up something special here.

from https://downbeat.com