A Monster Alto Player
Norman Zierler | New Hartford, NY United States | 08/31/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Charles McPherson is the closest thing to Charlie Parker I've heard, and that includes pretty heavy company (Bartz, Watson, Cannonball, Herring, Hart). His cover of Well You Needn't would have made Monk take notice, and his burner, First Flight Out, would get the dead tapping their feet. It's like listening to Bird with better audio fidelity. His sidemen are with him all the way. Tom Harrell takes some crackling solos, and the rhythm section (Michael Weiss, Peter Washington, and Victor Lewis) keep the flame going on the cookers and provide beautiful, sympathetic accompaniment on the ballads. As a drummer I was awed by Victor Lewis's work on First Flight Out. Victor - if you're out there, were you playing four on the foot pedal? I rank this among my top ten CDs. This cat's the real deal. You like alto? Get this."
Amazing CD
Tumor Suppressor | Florida | 01/09/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Charles McPherson is amazing alto sax player. Caught him once at Birdland in NYC and was literally blown away by his playing and that of his drummer at the time, Lewis Nash (?). First Flight Out will have you grooving from the very first track. It picks you up and won't let you down until the closing seconds of the final composition. A lot of the tracks are originals but there is also one or two standards thrown in for good measure. Amazon offers the CD for very cheap so I think you are missing out if you don't pick this up."
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1