Late (Alvin Batiste album)

Late
Studio album by Alvin Batiste
Released	1993
Genre	Jazz
Label	Columbia [1]
Producer	Alvin Batiste
Alvin Batiste chronology
Bayou Magic (1988) Late (1993) Songs, Words and Messages, Connections (1999)

Late is an album by the American clarinetist Alvin Batiste, released in 1993. ^{[2] [3]} Issued as part of Columbia Records' "Legendary Pioneers of Jazz" series, it was Batiste's first album for a major label. ^{[4] [5]}

Production

The album was produced by Batiste. ^[6] He led Kenny Barron on piano, Rufus Reid on bass, and Herman Jackson on drums. ^[7] Batiste wrote six of the album's eight songs. ^[8] "Banjo Noir" was inspired by a Creole folk song from the 1800s. ^[9] "Ray's Segue" is based on a melody that Ray Charles would play. ^[10] "Imp and Perry" is based on John Coltrane's "Countdown". ^[11] Wessell Anderson played saxophone on "Body and Soul". ^[12]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[13]
Chicago Sun-Times	[14]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[15]
MusicHound Jazz: The Essential Album Guide	[6]
The Philadelphia Inquirer	[16]

The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote: "Always light and elegant, Batiste weaves delicate, diaphanous strands on the title track and manages a street sensibility coupled with a highbrow complexity on 'Bat's Blues'." ^[16] The Chicago Tribune stated that "Batiste adds an alert technique and an intense, compositional approach to improvisation." ^[17] The Chicago Sun-Times wrote that "notes curl like liquid smoke from his blues treatments." ^[14]

The Times-Picayune stated that "Batiste's round, mellow tone alternates with tweaking arpeggios, gruff growls and jittering chromatics." ^[18] The New York Times listed Late among 1993's best jazz albums, noting that it moves "from absolutely cool late night atmospherics, to the experimental, and it always swings." ^[19]

AllMusic wrote that Batiste "has a conventional and pleasing tone that he utilizes to improvise in an unusual and harmonically advanced style." ^[13]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Late"
2.	"Imp and Perry"
3.	"Bat's Blues"
4.	"Body and Soul"
5.	"Banjo Noir"
6.	"Ray's Segue"
7.	"When the Saints"
8.	"Kinshasa"

References

1. "Clarinetist Alvin Batiste Dies at 74". JazzTimes. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
2. "Alvin Batiste Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
3. "Alvin Batiste, Clarinetist of New Orleans, Dies at 74". The New York Times. May 7, 2007.
4. Tunzi, Kristina (June 9, 2007). "Deaths". Billboard. Vol. 119, no. 23. p. 84.
5. "New Orleans born Alvin Batiste...". NPR. July 11, 1993.
6. MusicHound Jazz: The Essential Album Guide. Schirmer Trade Books. 1998. p. 77.
7. Point, Michael (July 29, 1993). "Esoteric tunes fill out summer". Onward. Austin American-Statesman. p. 13.
8. Chapman, Geoff (January 22, 1994). "Columbia has produced some gems...". Toronto Star. p. H8.
9. "A Saint Goes Marching Home". The Village Voice. May 29, 2007.
10. Wirt, John (June 25, 1993). "Batiste's major-label debut is Late". Fun. The Advocate. Baton Rouge. p. 8.
11. Kanzler, George (July 11, 1993). "The Clarinet, in All Its Versatile Glory". News. The Star-Ledger.
12. Blackwell, Dave (November 26, 1993). "Columbia Records has proven once again...". Deseret News. p. W7.
13. "Alvin Batiste Late". AllMusic.
14. Sachs, Lloyd (July 25, 1993). "Exposure Is Better 'Late' Than Never for Alvin Batiste". Show. Chicago Sun-Times. p. 8.
15. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 1. MUZE. p. 464.
16. Stark, Karl (August 3, 1993). "Alvin Batiste Late". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. E5.
17. Reich, Howard (September 5, 1993). "Two Gems Evoke a Vanished World of Jazz". Arts. Chicago Tribune. p. 17.
18. Aiges, Scott (July 2, 1993). "Past Pleasures in Present Tense". The Times-Picayune. p. L6.
19. Watrous, Peter (January 5, 1994). "The Pop Life". The New York Times. p. C17.