''After Dark'' is a 1994 studio album by the American jazz

tenor saxophonist The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

Don Braden. Released on the Criss Cross Jazz label, the album presents a recording taken in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on January 5, 1993. Critically well received, ''After Dark'' is listed as one of the "Core Collection" albums in '' The Penguin Guide to Jazz''.

Theme

Recorded in New York City on January 5, 1993, the album is centered on the theme of night time, with a mix of original compositions and jazz standards as well as one pop song by

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

. The music critic

Howard Reich Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

suggested that Braden's goal was not to set out specific vignettes, but to "evoke different states of mind that the night inspires."

Critical reception

The album has been critically well received. ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' numbers it among the "core collection" which jazz fans should possess.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

describes it as one of the best releases of the year and adds that the album is "a positive step in Braden's rapid development." In its review of the album, '' JazzTimes'' wrote that Braden was a "magnetic player" and a "convincing composer", describing the album overall as "a very satisfying follow-up to Braden's previous Criss Cross dates". Reich, in the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'', wrote that the album was "a strong performance from an up-and-coming talent", "a musically appealing and intellectually intriguing recording."

Track listing

#"After Dark" (Don Braden) – 6:44 #"Night" (Braden) – 6:46 #"

You and the Night and the Music "You and the Night and the Music" is a popular song composed by Arthur Schwartz with lyrics by Howard Dietz. The song was debuted in the Broadway show ''Revenge with Music''. The show originally opened on November 28, 1934, ran for 22 performanc ...

" (

Howard Dietz Howard Dietz (September 8, 1896 – July 30, 1983) was an American publicist, lyricist, and librettist, best remembered for his songwriting collaboration with Arthur Schwartz. Biography Dietz was born in New York City. He attended Columbia Colle ...

, Arthur Schwartz) – 6:38 #"Creepin'" (

) – 7:16 #"R.E.M." (Braden) – 5:54 #"

Stars Fell on Alabama "Stars Fell on Alabama" is a 1934 jazz standard composed by Frank Perkins with lyrics by Mitchell Parish. History The title of the song appears to have been borrowed from the title of the 1934 book of the same name by Carl Carmer. It refers t ...

" ( Frank Perkins) – 8:03 #"Monk's Dream" (

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", "B ...

) – 7:56 #"Dawn" (Braden) – 6:04 #"The Hang" (Braden) – 9:35

Personnel

* Carl Allen –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

*Bob Bernotas –

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

*Noah Bless –

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

* Don Braden –

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

*Darrell Grant – piano * Christian McBride –

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

*Gerry Teekens –

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

*Scott Wendholt –

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

* Steve Wilson –

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

References

{{Authority control Don Braden albums 1994 albums Criss Cross Jazz albums