Joe Fonda Quartet
Eyes on the Horizon
Long Song Records
Eyes on the Horizon is a unique album. A lot of composers wait until their mentor has passed to pay tribute. Fonda had other ideas. He composed this set as a tribute and a gift to his mentor, Wadada Leo Smith. Wadada is a full participant on this collaboration, along with Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii and Italian drummer Tiziano Tononi. All four musicians have previously collaborated in a variety of settings, allowing them a loose and intuitive spirit on these compositions and improvisations.
The compositions are largely based on insights Fonda gleaned working with Smith. “We Need Members” is a nod to Fonda’s first meeting with Smith at a recruitment get-together for the Creative Music Improvisors Forum (CMIF), a musicians’ collective which Smith co-founded and directed. At the meeting, vibraphonist and CMIF co-chair Bobby Naughton grilled each applicant to see if they measured up to the organization’s membership requirements.
“Wadada was just sitting by the door. He didn’t say anything,” Fonda remembers. “When I was on my way out, I thought, man, I’m not sure I want to be a part of this, these guys are too hard. I got to the door, and Wadada looked me right in the eyes and all he said was, with a warm face and a smile, ‘We need members.’ And that melted away all the stuff Bobby put me through and I joined.”
“Like No Other” is a dedication to the late Bobby Naughton. The piece is a duet between Fonda and Smith, where they share impressions of Naughton.
The title track, “Eyes on the Horizon,” is an ode to Smith’s continued commitment to his work and how he is always composing and always looking to what comes next, even when he could relax into a elder statesman role.
Eyes on the Horizon has an overall laid back and meditative feel. It’s a good album for thinking to.
