Saxophonist Branford Marsalis has always been more adventurous than his younger brother, the better-known trumpeter Wynton. He has jumped outside jazz tradition to back up Sting on his world tours, do a stint as leader of the "Tonight Show's" house band, and dabble with hip-hop and funk in his own band Buckshot Lefonque. Last year Branford's restlessness led him to record "Footsteps of Our Fathers," an album that marked a high point with a quartet he brings to Tokyo next week.
The CD pays homage to four legends -- Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane and John Lewis. They are also four notoriously complex composers and performers, and Marsalis chose their most difficult works to put himself to the test. Coleman's "harmolodic" style of playing and composing is addressed on "Giggin'," the first cut on the album. The final tune tackles Lewis' lyrical and harmonic richness. In between he sandwiches new readings of two quintessential extended works -- Rollins' "Freedom Suite" and Coltrane's "A Love Supreme."
These defining works were revolutionary when they were first released in 1958 and 1965, respectively. "Freedom" was a bold statement on social injustice and the struggle for civil rights, though it has no lyrics, and it is so respected that it is rarely covered.