This one has taken a little while to make its way through the pipeline. The organist Charles Earland – “The Mighty Burner” – died in December 1999, and this troupe of his favoured latterday sidemen assembled in Rudy Van Gelder’s studio six months later, with Joey DeFrancesco taking the big man’s role at the keys. Laudably, the band has avoided simply running through songs from Earland’s book, though the material nonetheless has a period flavour to it, dipping back into the 1970s for pop material from Dionne Warwick (“Déjà Vu”), Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway (“The Closer I Get To You”) and the Average White Band (“Pick Up the Pieces”). There’s also some nice originals and a steaming rendition of Wayne Shorter’s “The Summit,” which DeFrancesco positively eats up. If there’s a standout player on the disc it’s perhaps Eric Alexander, who’s oozing with self-confidence and authority. Nailing his polished phrases right to the beat, he sounds so imperturbably in control that he risks seeming facile, but his brand of exactitude can also have its own excitement: his deftness in picking across the 6/8 beat of “Memorial Day” is exhilarating to hear. Pat Martino signs on for three numbers, including a reworking of “On the Stairs,” a convoluted blues line first aired on the guitarist’s 1974 album Consciousness.

Given the current jazz climate it’s easy for listeners to suffer from tribute-album fatigue – everyone from Joe Lovano to Ken Vandermark is popping them out like waffles – but this shouldn’t deter listeners from Keepers of the Flame. It’s a solid, very playable album which will appeal to fans of soulful organ-driven jazz.

Nate Dorward

Cadence, April 2003