Review: Hip-Hop Be-Bop by Jeffrey “Saxophone Tall” Newton
Jeffrey “Saxophone Tall” Newton is a Detroit native and virtuoso multi-instrumentalist who learned jazz from the city’s greats, many of them Motown “Funk Brothers.” He has performed with Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Brubeck, Branford Marsalis, Freddie Hubbard, and The Temptations. Now based in Los Angeles, Newton busks on sidewalks to bring jazz to everyone while also carving out a place in the city’s competitive studio and gig scene. His saxophone playing has been praised by Dizzy Gillespie himself, and on his new album Hip-Hop Be-Bop, he channels that energy into a sprawling portrait of Los Angeles.
Described by Newton as a “love letter” to LA, Hip-Hop Be-Bop embraces the city in all its contradictions. Its traffic, its junkies, its sidewalk chaos, its preeners and pretenders, its wildfires, its raids, and the anticipation of the coming 2028 Olympics. His goal was both musical and aesthetic: to capture LA in its raw glory while recreating the spontaneity of a live jazz ensemble. To do this, Newton played seventeen instruments himself, improvising all of the music (aside from the heads), with no loopers and no AI.
The record opens with Saint Alphonzo’s Amazing Magic Sidewalk Prayer Breakfast, Newton’s nod to Frank Zappa, where soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones clash like the characters of LA’s sidewalks. Subway to the Olympics is the first of the album’s Olympic tributes, a smooth and relaxed piece that imagines itself on subway platforms during the games. Do You See the Light? evokes the church scene from The Blues Brothers, offering both hope for LA’s downtrodden and a lament for immigrant communities facing ICE raids.
Breakin’ on Sunset pays tribute to LA traffic with a catchy, laid-back groove. Seaside Samba pits cornet against alto sax in a playful brawl over Fender Rhodes and percussion. With Higher, Faster, Stronger!, Newton delivers an irresistible earworm he imagines as a potential Olympic theme, complete with fiery saxophone solos. Glass Tango in Los Angeles shifts to a solo acoustic piano, a four-movement tango improvised in a single take.
The exploration continues with 3000 Flutes, a piece where Native American flute locks in with acoustic bass and tablas, colored by Weather Report-inspired harmonies. My Shell, Djembe & Cello goes further “out there,” using those three instruments to reach into Coltrane territory. Spaced Out to Lunch tips its hat to LA legend Eric Dolphy, a conversation between bass clarinet, electric guitar, acoustic bass, and Wurlitzer. The album closes with Tinseltown Graffiti Fire, written from Newton’s personal experience surviving the Sunset Fire and witnessing another blaze set by the homeless across from his home. Its one-minute runtime reflects the fleeting but terrifying moment he watched graffiti glow in the firelight.
Hip-Hop Be-Bop is as sprawling and unpredictable as the city it celebrates. By playing seventeen instruments and leaning on pure improvisation, Jeffrey “Saxophone Tall” Newton creates a vivid musical portrait of Los Angeles—its beauty, its chaos, and its resilience.
