Frank Morgan Quartet

It has been more than ten years since alto saxophonist Frank Morgan began his re-emergence after three decades of drug addiction and imprisonment. Now 61 years old, The Minneapolis-born disciple of Charlie Parker has just released a glowing new CD with an all-star rhythm section. Morgan will perform with his quartet at Zanzibar Blue this Sunday through Tuesday.

On Love, Lost & Found (Telarc Jazz) Morgan interprets some of the most familiar romantic songs in the jazz canon with a passion and an emotional force that invests them with new meaning. His sense of melancholy on "Last Night When We Were Young" is almost heartbreaking. Morgan stays close to the melody on this program of largely languid ballads, with only an occasional off-handed bebop reference. But, as on "The Nearness of You" and "My One and Only Love," he communicates the feelings of the lyrics through the depth of his soul. Each well-crafted note reverberates with the memories and mysteries of a lifetime. Aided by the sensitive and witty support of his pianist, Cedar Walton, bassist Ray Brown and drummer Billy Higgins, Morgan has fashioned a series of gorgeous and very personal variations on an eternal theme.

Frank Morgan Quartet at Zanzibar Blue, 305 S. 11th St., Sun.-Tues., June 9-11 at 7 & 9:30p.m. Info: 829-0300.

— Russell Woessner