One for All is a New York City-based hard bop sextet, featuring Eric Alexander (tenor saxophone), Jim Rotondi (trumpet), Steve Davis (trombone), David Hazeltine (piano), John Webber (bass) and Joe Farnsworth (drums). The style of the group has been likened to 1960s-era Blue Note jazz and has been described as being reminiscent of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers.[1] Critic David Adler of JazzTimes has dubbed One for All "New York’s premier hard-bop supergroup,"[2] while Matt Collar at allmusic called the band "one of the foremost mainstream jazz ensembles to come out of the '90s."

History

The group was officially formed in 1997 for an engagement at Smalls Jazz Club, and recorded its first album Too Soon Too Tell later that year for the Sharp Nine label. Alexander, Rotondi and Farnsworth had all been acquainted in New York City as far back as 1988, and later Farnsworth introduced Davis to the other musicians. Hazeltine and Peter Washington began performing with the former four players in 1996 at the jazz club Augie's, which would later be re-opened as Smoke, a venue at which the group would eventually record a live album. Washington would later be replaced by John Webber, and the band has since signed to the Criss Cross label. The name One for All is borrowed from the Jazz Messengers' last album. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.