"Cherokee" is a performance of Ray Noble's celebrated bebop test piece from the 1996 live album Alone Together by Lee Konitz, Brad Mehldau, and Charlie Haden. Long a proving ground for jazz improvisers since Charlie Parker famously used its demanding chord changes as the basis for "Ko-Ko," Cherokee's 64-bar AABA form and harmonically treacherous bridge have challenged generations of musicians. Konitz takes three choruses on alto saxophone at approximately 242 beats per minute, navigating the changes with the relaxed mastery of someone who had been interpreting this material for nearly five decades. His lines, characterized by their long-breathed phrasing and subtle rhythmic displacement, demonstrate why he remained one of jazz's most original melodic thinkers throughout his long career. Mehldau follows with three choruses that push the tempo even higher, to approximately 262 beats per minute, his piano work displaying the formidable technique and harmonic daring that would define his career. Haden's two-chorus bass solo maintains the musical tension while bringing a more grounded, lyrical quality to the proceedings. The trio's ability to sustain creative momentum through this demanding vehicle without the support of drums speaks to the exceptional level of musical communication between these three artists.
