Susanne Alt: ‘Dark Horse’

Coming soon from Amsterdam saxophonist Susanne Alt on Venus Tunes is the remarkable ‘Dark Horse’. It’s an album you’re going to want to get in your ears.

Alt’s seventh studio album, Dark Horse, promises an emergence into the spotlight for Alt, following her 2024 album Royalty For Real. The two are effectively a pair of albums, as both were recorded in the same sessions. The first pays homage to trumpeter Roy Hargrove while this latest collection of tunes seems to encompass Alt’s experiences in New York around the recording.

Dark Horse takes the sax across soul, funk and bop, all with an extraordinary rhythm section of James Hurt (piano, Rhodes, clavinet, organ), Gerald Cannon (bass) and Willie Jones III (drums).

The Charlie Parker Au Privave is one of Alt’s finest tracks, with the saxist “kicking it off” with Cannon’s bass before the groove settles in on the drums and she flies above them, allowing the tune to return. It sounds like Cannon at the end of the track saying “Yeah, Susanne. OK.” That’s a real jazzer’s ‘OK’ that means it’s more than that.

Apart from the title track of Dark Horse, the final tune - Jonesin’ - is a fine example of Alt’s playing with this brilliant rhythm section that is looking forward and will make a strong start on its release at the end of January, promising much from Alt in 2026.