Charles Gayle Quartet - Translations (SILKHEART RECORDS 2018)

"At a time when too many musicians rely on arch referential irony or a reverence to catholic, stylistic recreations, it is bracing to hear a musician who unabashedly ignores fads and styles to aggressively pursue a music imbued with such powerful, emotional depth." 

Michael Rosenstein, Cadence, November 1994

This January Thursday breaks bright, boding well. At 10:15 that morning, a motorcade of taxicabs, its drivers protesting hazardous working conditions, moves slowly down Broadway toward City Hall, car horns in a distinctive staccato rhythm - a rhythm often favored by Charles Gayle, standing on the corner of Canal Street as they drive past. 

This cold, windy Manhattan day feels oddly warm. Maybe it's the pale winter sun, or knowing that 12 years of Reagan and Bush have ended. It is the first full day of the Clinton administration.

At the inauguration in Washington the previous noon, at a podium a few feet from the new president, the distinguished African-American writer Maya Angelou had read an impressive entry in that difficult genre, public poetry rifting on the triple trophes laid out in the opening lines: "A Rock, A River, A Tree" 

The horizon leans...  more

1. Joyous Fellowship 14:40

2. Healing 19:01

3. Holy Mountain 14:38

4. Hymn of Praise 08:53

5. Suffering for Love 14:00

Charles Gayle tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, viola

William Parker bass, cello, half-size violin

Vattel Cherry bass, kalimba, bells

Michael Wimberly drums