Horns Locked Nick Hempton & Cory Weeds

• 1 Last Train From Overbrook 05:35
• 2 Change For A Dollar 09:13
• 3 Soy Califa 06:32
• 4 Conn Men 07:42
• 5 Polkadots & Moonbeams 07:16
• 6 The One Before This 09:36
• 7 When You're Smiling 05:03
• 8 Loose Ends 07:57
• Total Runtime 58:54

Info for Horns Locked

The first quarter of the 21st century is drawing to a close, and with the world in the grip of uncertainty, the only prescription is a dose of feel-good soul jazz. Heavy on the blues, dripping with grease; direct, honest, and swinging. Just simple songs and unambiguous melodies, with grooving rhythms and no pretence.

In the summer of 2024, I made one of my regular visits to Vancouver to reunite with my very soulful co-conspirators Jesse Cahill and Nick Peck for a weekend at Frankie’s, the city’s legendary jazz club. After some cajoling, Van City tenor legend Cory Weeds agreed to join us on stage to form a two-horn quartet. Mics were set up, favourite tunes were chosen, cocktails were consumed; and with the Frankie’s crowd in fine fettle, urging us on with stomps and hollers, we laid down a set of hard-driving soul jazz.

In between shows, to balance the live feel, the cats and I descended into the murky shadows of a grungy basement studio, the carpeted walls dripping with years of accumulated funk. In keeping with the free blowing feel of the club gig, the studio session took place live, with no isolation and no safety net; and in the subterranean twilight we knocked out a set of swingers in a couple of hours, each tune needing only one or two takes.

Weeds and I are long-time friends and mutual admirers, and it was a gas to engage in a little sporting, good-natured combat, tipping our hats to the great two-tenor matchups of the past: Dexter Gordon and Herschel Evans, Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt, Johnny Griffin and Lockjaw Davis. And while we were wailing, Peck & Cahill were getting down to serious business, lighting the fire and keeping it burning until the last note faded. The repertoire reveals our musical heroes– tunes penned by the giants of the tenor: Dexter, Stitt, James Moody; plus a couple of down-the-pipe originals for good measure.

The result is Horns Locked: a joyful collection of hard-swinging soul jazz that I hope will bring a smile to your face, a pat to your foot, and maybe even lift a load off your shoulders.

Nick Hempton, tenor saxophone
Cory Weeds, tenor saxophone
Nick Peck, Hammond B3 Organ
Jesse Cahill, drums

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