Charles McPherson - First Flight Out (1994)

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.
-- Norman Zierler