| The Fire Within | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Don Braden |
| Cover: | The Fire Within (Don Braden album).jpg |
| Released: | 1999 |
| Genre: | Jazz |
| Label: | RCA Victor[1] |
| Producer: | Don Braden |
| Prev Title: | The Voice of the Saxophone |
| Prev Year: | 1997 |
| Next Title: | Contemporary Standards Ensemble |
| Next Year: | 2000 |
The Fire Within is an album by the American saxophonist Don Braden, released in 1999.[2] [3] Braden supported the album with shows in the United States and Britain.[4]
Braden recorded the album with three different bands.[5] Kenny Kirkland intended to play with one of the bands but died before the recording sessions; instead of replacing Kirkland's piano, Braden chose to record the planned songs with just himself, bassist Christian McBride, and drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts.[6] Dwayne Burno played bass on some of the other tracks.[7] Braden composed the title track.[8] "Solar" is an interpretation of the Miles Davis song.[9] "Fried Bananas" is a version of the Dexter Gordon tune; "Thermo" was written by Freddie Hubbard.[10]
JazzTimes deemed the album Braden's "first masterpiece," writing that "the title tune's mercurial sax-piano-bass-drums slo-burn is also the album's vibe signifier."[11] The Irish Times determined that "the real meat, and Braden's most unbuttoned soloing, is from the final session, a trio with Christian McBride and Jeff 'Tain' Watts, with the tenor energised."[12] The Boston Herald stated: "More Rollins than Coltrane, Braden plays the spaces as well as any young saxman, knows the value of a melody and gives his sidemen ... space to shine."[13]
AllMusic called The Fire Within "a fine record" and "a varied but balanced disc of traditional jazz."