Personnel: Ron Kearns, alto sax; John Jensen, trombone; Larry Brown, piano; Kent Miller, bass; Mike Smith, drums and special guest, Tim Collins, vibes.

Ron Kearns Live at Montpelier is an acoustic recording featuring a sax/trombone front-line. The group performs Bebop/Hard Bop tunes in the old Blue Note records style. Montpelier is an excellent venue for live acoustic recordings and the sound on this recording is what was heard by the live audience.

This recording features Ron Kearns on alto and soprano saxophones, Kenny Reed on trumpet and flugelhorn, Eric Byrd on piano, Bhagwan Khalsa on bass, Mike Smith on drums with special guest Buck Hill on tenor saxophone.

Recorded live at Blues Alley in Washington DC, this recording featured Ron Kearns on alto and tenor saxophones, Kenny Reed on trumpet and flugelhorn, Eric Byrd on piano, Bhagwan Khalsa on bass, Mike Smith on drums and Shelley Dorsey on vocals.

"Ron Kearns is better known as a producer for such local [DC] artists as Buck Hill and Ronnie Wells than as a musician in his own right. But "Live at Blues Alley" (Foxhaven) gives the alto and tenor saxophonist his due, providing a cool, late-night atmosphere for seasoned and soulful tone. With the help of trumpeter Kenny Reed, Kearns sometimes projects a frontline sound that brings to mind the music of Cannonball and Nat Adderley, particularly on the riff-based Herbie Hancock tune Driftin'. First though, Kearns unveils "Blues in the Alley," the album's opening track and its only original composition, which establishes the album's unfussy and unhurried tone. He then offers a rendition of Luis Bonfa's "Black Orpheus," notable for its gliding legato phrasing before singer Shelley Dorsey infuses "That Old Devil Called Love" with a sultry air. As for the remaining tunes, don't expect any surprises. The album is dominated by pop and jazz standards, including appealing performances of "Just Friends" and "Cantaloupe Island." Most of the arrangements tend to unfold in conventional fashion, leaving plenty of solo space for the horn men and the gopsel-infected runs favored by pianist Eric Byrd. Ably rounding out the rhythm section and neatly accenting the arrangements are bassist Bhagwan Khalsa and drummer Mike Smith.

Mike Joyce, The Washington Post, December 8, 1999

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