Portland, Oregon native and current NYC resident, tenor saxophonist Nicole Glover may be best known as a member of the all-female jazz supergroup Artemis. Or possibly as a member of Christian McBride’s Ursa Major. But she is also a bandleader, having recently released her third album as a leader – Memories, Dreams, Reflections (Savant, 2025). Glover often carries a reputation as a fierce, mostly ‘in’ player, but while playing both ‘in’ and ‘out’ on this release, the overriding vibe is ‘out.’ The album finds her fronting a trio of bassist Tyrone Allen II and drummer Kayvon Gordon, two great emerging upstarts, in the most distilled document of Glover’s tenor playing yet. Cellist Lester St. Louis joins the trio on two of the eleven tracks.
The album’s title references psychoanalyst Carl Jung’s autobiography, which he wrote in the twilight of his life. With presumably much to look forward to, the reference is a little odd for Glover, who is only in her thirties. But there are references to Jung on several tracks. This author has previously described Glover’s playing in reference to her notable fierce clusters. But on this outing, she is far more rounded. She is understated on the opener, “Obsidian.” The piece, written by Allen II, is focused more on creating stunning harmonics with St. Louis’s cello. Immediately, one hears the individual voices of Allen II and Gordon shine through in a piece that moves from sustained lines to sharp jabs and bursts.
“No.2,” positioned as such in the sequence, is an original by Lawrence Williams, a drummer with ties to both Detroit – Gordon’s hometown – and Portland. This is the first recording of the tune, and its title is a reference to a Jungean term, meaning “inner being”; the introverted side of one’s personality. Glover improvises freely, and we hear a commanding bass solo from Allen II, accented by Gordon’s nuanced kit work. “Petrichor,” one of only two originals penned by Glover, also appears on Artemis’s Arboresque (Blue Note, 2025). The piece is a meditative ballad describing that feeling after the rain, something Glover knows far too well from living in Portland. Allen II graces the tune with a lovely solo as well.
The next portion of the album features songs from contemporaries beginning with organist Glenn Tucker’s “Resilience.” The original version appeared on Tucker’s album from a decade ago, Determination (Mack Avenue, 2015). This version features turns from the bass-drum tandem, with Gordon especially forceful on his drum set. “Spy,” by Davy Lazar, features Glover in a softer mode with Gordon again showing his immense chops. ”Broken,” by pianist Lex Korten, has a balance of Glover’s fierce clusters and her more meditative stance. In between, there’s “Androgny,” a forty-six-second series of ostinato-filled lines written by bassist Jaribu Shahid of the obscure Detroit band Griot Galaxy.
Glover’s second original, “II for Richard Davis + Henry Grimes,” is dedicated to Astral Weeks (Warner, 1968) and Out to Lunch! (Blue Note, 1964) bassist Davis and avant-garde iconic bassist Grimes. Here we have the second appearance from St. Louis, whose cello blends so beautifully with Glover’s tenor. You may recall the line in Astral Weeks, “Venture in the slipstream between the viaducts of your dreams,” perhaps another nod to Glover’s album title, though that is probably a reach.
“March” is a blurring 4/4 number, originally written as a waltz by pianist Miki Yamanaka, where Glover channels her main inspiration, Sonny Rollins. Charlie Parker’s “Bird Feathers” – a tune also covered earlier this year by Glover’s labelmate, altoist Jim Snidero. – also proves fertile ground for her tenor. Glover closes impeccably with “Tell Him I Said Hello,” a tour-de-force of tenor playing as she interprets Betty Carter’s tune from Social Call (Columbia, 1991). In reflection, Glover says it’s “a rumination on relationships, how they change throughout your life and the complicated feelings that arise from that.”
There are no complicated feelings to these ears. Glover has just taken a major leap forward, delivering one of the outstanding saxophone-led albums of the year.
‘Memories, Dreams, Reflections’ is out now on Savant Records.
Photo credit: Anna Yatskevich
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