''Steppenwolf'' is an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by the

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

group the

World Saxophone Quartet The World Saxophone Quartet is an American jazz ensemble founded in 1977, incorporating elements of free jazz, R&B, funk and South African jazz into their music. The original members were Julius Hemphill (alto and soprano saxophone, flute), ...

released by the Justin Time label. The album features a live performance by

Hamiet Bluiett Hamiet Bluiett (; September 16, 1940 – October 4, 2018) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. His primary instrument was the baritone saxophone, and he was considered one of the finest players of this instrument. A membe ...

, John Purcell,

Oliver Lake Oliver Lake (born September 14, 1942) is an American jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer, poet, and visual artist. He is known mainly for alto saxophone, but he also performs on soprano and flute. During the 1960s, Lake worked with the Black Art ...

and David Murray and was recorded at the

Steppenwolf Theatre Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Chicago theatre company founded in 1974 by Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry, and Gary Sinise in the Unitarian church on Half Day Road in Deerfield, Illinois and is now located in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood on H ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

on March 1, 1999. This was Purcell's final album with the group.

Reception

The

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 ...

review by David R. Adler awarded the album 4 stars, stating, "Bluiett's "Hattie Wall," the WSQ theme song, concludes the program with boogying showmanship. Recommended."Adler, D.
Allmusic Review
accessed July 19, 2011 The authors of the ''

Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled by ...

'' called the album "the one we would most strongly recommend," and wrote: "This was the night when Purcell finally sounded like a permanent and unmoveable component of the quartet." They described the quartet's performance of "Giant Steps" as "a career high-point." In a review for

Jazz Times ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of growth ...

, Bill Bennett commented: "The word virtuoso comes to mind and quickly falls short of the mark in characterizing the ineffable totality of the World Saxophone Quartet... John Purcell... has brought stability and a creative spark to the chair vacated by Julius Hemphill a decade ago... The Quartet's rendering of Coltrane's 'Giant Steps'... asserts its claim to a very high spot in the ranks of collective improvisation." Jim Santella, writing for

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

, remarked: "Each of the four artists has something vital to offer... Emotions run high throughout the performance, and their music has never sounded better. Highly recommended, this one is yet another thrilling episode from a superb unit." Another AAJ reviewer wrote: "''Steppenwolf'' offers a refreshing contrast to much of the quartet's studio work: it documents a live performance. For such a finely tuned machine, this change is akin to taking the Ferrari off the racetrack and setting it loose on the open road... ''Steppenwolf'' is a fine record indeed... most definitely up to the very high standards this group has set over the last quarter century."

Track listing

# "Intro" - 1:05 # "The Crossing" (Murray) - 12:39 # "Intro" - 2:07 # "Li'l Poki" (Purcell) - 15:23 # "Intro" - 0:27 # "Sunrise (Brazilian Sunshine)" ( Mahal) - 9:14 # "Giant Steps" ( Coltrane) - 3:15 # "Intro" - 0:13 # "Color for Duke" (Bluiett) - 8:34 # "Intro" - 0:35 # "Toré" (Purcell) - 6:08 # "What If" (Lake) - 9:29 # "Hattie Wall (Theme Song)" (Bluiett) - 3:35

Personnel

—

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...

* John Purcell —

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 ...

— alto saxophone * David Murray —

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 ...

References

{{Authority control World Saxophone Quartet live albums 2002 live albums Justin Time Records live albums