Hidden Heights: Brian Horton at HR-57
October 19th, 2004
By Franz A. Matzner, Washington, D.C.
"Organic, determined, and thoroughly modern, the Brian Horton quartet plays straight from the interior of their musical consciousness."
'Without calling any titles, Horton led the group through a steady flow of pieces that blurred the lines between standards, originals, and tunes simply composed on the spot. Guided by Brown's modern, steel-hard grooves, and working off of Sholar's striking blues-grounded piano, Horton delivered one extended, intricate, and deeply searching solo after another. At his best on soprano, and clearly influenced by Coltrane's sound and direction, Horton revealed a rare dedication to plumb the full depths of his music and his self. In fact, the Horton quartet as a whole seems defined by this total lack of pretension. Allowing themselves to be fully exposed at all times, the band strained to surpass their own musical limits, urging each other on at every musical turn toward ever greater vistas.'
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The Radar Screen
March 15th, 2004
by Gregory Joseph, New York City
'When saxophonist Brian Horton popped up for the weekly Thursday open jam, you knew you were in for a treat when he played his infectious melodies. Horton is a student of music and his education is clear when he picks up the instrument. The fellow Harlemite put live music at the Studio Museum on the Radar Screen, as well as heading his own trio weekly in Brooklyn. Hanging out at I Lounge you get the feeling that you're witnessing the future of music, and to that we're grateful.'
Heroism
May 19th, 2004
by Scott Heath, Washington, D.C.
Excerpt from Horton's latest release 'Walking Tall: The New Young Heroes Anthem'
'No crossword puzzles and tiddlywinks. This is the real thing being actualized. Wrapped inside this proud and thoughtful anthem are a practical critique of our cultural circumstances and an applicable theory of resistance. Brian Horton has produced an album that is truly representative of the continuum of free black music in which his work is rightly situated. He, along with Brown and Hall, strikes honestly and deliberately for the sake of shaken innocence and with the palpable sense that he is defending something pure. Once again it is those who would appear to have the least to spare who are most ready to give their last breath in the name of love and fear of loss. This is sacrificial living, a sweaty testament to quiet aspirations come materialized through good and dirty work. This demonstration of spiritual dexterity impresses upon us the challenge to settle for nothing less than what we know that we deserve. These new young heroes are here to settle scores of heart and mind on our behalf.'
And you can taste it on their salty faces. This is how standards are made.
Live at the Underground June 24th, 2003
by Dartanyan Brown, News Arts Media, Oakland, California
'The simplest, most innocent line can assume almost epic proportions with this group as they explore both the boundaries of stylistic expression, dynamics, instrumental mastery and audience interaction. The 90 minute set was almost entirely improvised and was played without an intermission. The funny thing about that kind of statistic is that it actually dawned on me much later that they had, indeed, improvised well over an hour of music with all the passion, expression and texture that you expect from a night of jazz in NYC.'
Winard Harper at Twins April 24th, 2001
by Alan Greenblatt, Washington, D.C.
'Harper led an excellent sextet Friday at Twins. Brian Horton on tenor sax played perhaps less than anyone but provided the great melodic highlights, as far as I was concerned, beautifully limning (I love that word, it's so ridiculous) the ballad "Never Let Me Go" and giving a blistering three or four minute solo on his own blues called "Southern Comfort." It was one of those solos that make you think, could I even talk rapidly like that for several minutes without ever releasing a wrong syllable, led alone make the whole thing melodic?'
The JazzMasterSeries.com
by Dave Kay
'Brian Horton's saxophone is very soulful.'
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