T.K. Blue - Another Blue (December 2021 Arkadia Records)

In every context, T.K Blue asserts himself as one of the brightest talents in jazz today.” – Geoffrey Hines, The Washington Post

Arkadia Records recording artist, saxophonist and composer T.K. Blue (Talib Kibwe) leads this exhilarating ensemble of 14 Jazz notables, such as Randy Weston & Eddie Henderson, in a special album, entitled T.K. Blue: Another Blue. Full of superb originals and classic standards, the album showcases both Blue’s extraordinary musical chops and the sounds of his impressive band, that includes pianists James Weidman & Michael Cochrane, bassists Santi Debriano & Calvin Hill, drummers Cecil Brooks III & Greg Bufford, percussion master Guilherme Franco, trumpeter Tony Branker, Bob Ferrel on trombone, Lenny Argese on guitar, and special guests pianists Randy Weston and Onaje Allan Gumbs, as well as Eddie Henderson on trumpet

“Blue’s voice on alto is highly distinctive. Whether on his main horn, soprano or flute, he inflects everything he plays with ebullience.” – James Hale, Downbeat Magazine

In this all-acoustic session by the accomplished saxophonist, flutist, composer, and arranger, T.K. Blue presents an exciting program of five of his original compositions, five re-interpretative arrangements of iconic standards, plus a tune by Tony Branker from the Spirit of Life Orchestra. T.K. plays with fire and imagination on his full arsenal of instruments, joined by an impressive collection of Jazz stars with whom he has intersected during his twenty-plus years as an active, vital performer and Musical Director for pianist Randy Weston.

“Saxophone virtuoso T.K. Blue, imbues his playing with so much elation that even classics come to life with new vitality… He has developed an emotional immediacy in his playing that utterly transports an audience…T.K. Blue’s tone is both muscular and malleable. When he improvises, his contoured passages obtain the logic of a Slinky stretched to full length…The saxophonist also has a delightful rhythmic agility that enables his solos to dance.” – John Murph, The Washington Post

Whether playing compositions from Miles Davis, Bud Powell, or Dizzy Gillespie, or TK Blue’s originals that reflect on his West Indian heritage and the longstanding influences of his travels around the world, “T.K. Blue: Another Blue” showcases the impressive young reed player reflecting on the history and future of Jazz music.

“Saxophonist/Flutist/Composer T.K. Blue’s musical exploits, on the bandstand and in the recording studio, shout and scream ‘artist deserving wider recognition’.” – Willard Jenkins, Jazz Times 

1. Chant for Peace Eternal 06:11

2. This is for Albert 05:16

3. Evening Prayer 07:11

4. Hallucinations 03:41

5. Another Blue 05:18

6. You Go to My Head 07:08

7. It’s Really All About Love4:27 04:26

8. Night In Tunisia 05:21

9. Crossings 05:34

10. Pileau 03:53

11. Solar 04:34

T.K. Blue: Saxophones, flutes, and kalimbas

James Weidman: Piano

Santi DeBriano: Bass

Cecil Brooks III: Drums

Guillermo Franco: Percussion

Onaje Allen Gumbs: Piano

Michael Cochrane: Piano

Calvin Hill: Bass

Greg Bufford: Drums

Tony Branker: Trumpet

Bob Ferrel: Trombone

Lenny Argese : Guitar

With special guests:

Eddie Henderson: Trumpet

Randy Weston: Piano

Produced by: T.K. Blue and Bob Karcy

PRE ORDER

The Cookers - Look Out! (September 24, 2021 Gearbox Records)

Look Out! is the triumphant sixth album return of jazz supergroup The Cookers, due out on September 24th on double vinyl, CD, and digital. Recorded at the iconic Van Gelder studio in Englewood Cliffs and cut using a Van Gelder-era '67 Haeco Sculley lathe at Gearbox Records, the 7-track release comprises original, fresh pieces written by Cecil McBee, Billy Harper, and George Cables which channel the heady, aggressive post-bop era of the mid-60s.

Whereas the majority of the jazz tradition’s elder statesmen head their own groups, this is one of the few jazz bands to contain legacy musicians of this calibre functioning as an equitable, long-standing ensemble. Billy Harper, Cecil McBee, George Cables, Eddie Henderson, and Billy Hart all came up in the heady era of the mid ‘60s: Hart and Henderson were members of Herbie Hancock’s groundbreaking Mwandishi group; Cecil McBee anchored Charles Lloyd’s great ’60s quartet alongside Keith Jarrett and Jack DeJohnette; Billy Harper was part of Lee Morgan’s last group, as well as being a member of Max Roach’s Quartet and Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers; while George Cables held down the piano chair in numerous bands including groups led by Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Dexter Gordon and Art Pepper. David Weiss and Donald Harrison, from a more recent generation and the youngest members of the band, are experts in this forthright lingo, having gained experience performing with Art Blakey, Bobby Hutcherson, Freddie Hubbard, Charles Tolliver, Roy Haynes and Herbie Hancock.

After 14 years together, again the incredibly high level of musicianship has only increased with the revisiting of their fresh, challenging, boundary-pushing music from these legendary, revered, veteran improvisers. 

1. The Mystery of Monifa Brown

2. Destiny Is Yours

3. Cat's Out The Bag

4. Somalia

5. AKA Reggie

6. Traveling Lady

7. Mutima

Billy Harper: tenor sax

Eddie Henderson: trumpet

David Weiss: trumpet

Donald Harrison: alto sax

George Cables: piano

Cecil McBee: bass

Billy Hart: drums

Produced by David Weiss

Executive Producer: Darrel Sheinman 

Recorded at Van Gelder Recording Studio by Maureen Sickler

Mixed by Katherine Miller

Mastered by Caspar Sutton-Jones and Darrel Sheinman at Gearbox Records

Pre-order

Billy Harper Quintet Live In Brooklyn (August 2021)

Texas Tenor, Billy Harper has had an immense influence on my life and music. I first played with Billy’s band in 1992 when he came to Australia and brought with him his good friend the great Texan drummer Malcolm Pinson. The band was me, Scott Tinkler on trumpet, Nick Haywood on bass with Billy and Malcolm. We played Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide and this tour was a life-changer. It was so musically and spiritually intense that I was covered in sweat after each gig and wondering what had hit me. It really felt like I was being changed by the music as if my hearing and approach were being changed forever.

I am so fortunate to have had opportunities like this where I learn through the music directly. Billy brought so much spirit and his music is deeply passionate with a strong gospel feeling and a lot of Coltrane language. And with regard to Malcolm, you have to understand that I was a young lad from Mooroolbark and really had never experienced what a great American drummer sounded like and what it could bring out of you. Not to mention that Billy had come up through the ranks of the heaviest musicians that have ever lived, people like; Art Blakey, Max Roach, Elvin Jones, Lee Morgan, and the list goes on and on. This tour was set up by our great Australian jazz advocate Martin Jackson and I can never thank him enough because it was a trial by fire that led to Billy becoming my mentor and kind of ‘New York dad’ for some 20 years following.

A month or so before the first gig, Billy sent Martin rehearsal cassettes. The tapes contained all the music we would play and Billy would explain in words and with music exactly what we were to do; all the theatrical and musical devices we needed to know about were outlined in sound and words, like a kind of jazz music directors cut. Who does that?

I remember the first Oz gig was at a pub in South Melbourne called “the Limerick Arms” and it was like taking off in a rocket. I feel like the audience also experienced this lift-off. Malcolm and Billy together was an incredible force and it felt like the gig went by in a flash of light. They were incredibly kind to us young players and there was no vibing or castigating or any of that. It was just love for music and generosity. I remember hearing Billy and feeling so much sacred church feeling in his melodies but also a furious intellect and artistic freedom. It was actually scary. 

We played Billy’s fantastic compositions like Priestess , Love On the Sudan, and Cry Of Hunger and so many other Harper classics. To me, it’s absurd that Billy is not better recognized as one of the great Jazz composers and players of all time. I remember marveling at his use of silence and his rhythmic awareness that was so far ahead of anything I had ever known or heard. Later on, when I had the fortune to play in his band in New York I could get a little closer to rhythmic possibilities that many of Billy’s compositions explored but on this first Australian tour I could only intuit what was possible. If you listen to Call Of The Wild and Peaceful Heart you can get a sense of the rhythmic subdivisions and possibilities that are possible.

Billy’s long-standing band could really explore all these layers and would take the music to a place of real expressive freedom. I would often go and hear them stretching out like this, when I finally got to New York.

We also played a club called “Dr Jazz” in Melbourne and on that night I was kind of exhausted with various things so, rather than going straight into the club, I decided to take a very quick nap in my car. I woke up with a start 3 mins before we were supposed to go on! I ran in and went straight onto the bandstand. Martin Jackson told me that Paul Grabowsky and Bob Sedergreen were waiting and ready to play. Phew.

in touch. When I did arrive there, I called him up and went over to his apartment in the artist building called “West Beth” which was on West Bethune street in the West Village, right on the Hudson River. Many great artists lived in this building and it was Gil Evans who had helped Billy to get in there originally. Billy had a drum kit and a Rhodes Suitcase set up and lots of books and awards and albums were up on the walls.

He was very welcoming and I asked him at this first meet up could I possibly get some lessons from him. He said “I don't really teach, but just come and hang out”... It so happened that I hung out with Billy for the next 20 years on and off and Billy even took me out to dinner once a week for probably some ten years. We would mostly go to this Chinese restaurant near his apartment and we would just catch up and talk about philosophy and music and spirituality and UFOs and about all the amazing players that Billy had worked with. It was a true blessing for me and I learned so much about black American music and why it’s important and the many things it is and can be.

Billy was the first black musician to play in the infamous 1oclock band at North Texas State University. He went on to also play with so many greats and even made a record with Louis Armstrong. He told me that Earth Wind And Fire once contacted him to ask if they could record one of his songs! He was the person who told me to always take photos and videos on the road and to archive and capture moments of your life so you can reflect on them.

He is the reason it is possible to release this live recording. I took his advice Billy has done a lot of traveling and playing and has hung with some far-out people. He showed me a video of him with Salvador Dali in Europe one time. He was also one of the many black musicians including Roland Kirk, Charles Mingus, who stormed the stage of a popular live TV show to demand that more black music was shown on TV.

His music speaks of the civil rights movement although he would say he just believes in the beauty power and healing force of music. Billy learned discipline from Max Roach. Max was army trained and he was severe with his players about being on time. So Billy was was never late. He had all his clocks set 15 or 30 minutes ahead. He would run 15 miles every single day without fail. He told me that to do this is to understand adversity and be prepared for it. If he could run 15 miles in the snow or in the sweltering heat, he could face what New York and being a jazz artist threw at him. He was always ready. He also said that he often would compose while running, that ideas would come naturally that way and he would begin singing them as he ran, and then when he would get home, he would write them out. I feel like I can hear these kinds of motifs and figures in many of Billy’s pieces. There is a hypnotic buoyancy there.

Billy said that he once had a dream where an angel gave him a cassette and he put it into the player and a most beautiful song was heard. When he woke up, he quickly wrote the song and it’s lyrics out and thus manifested the beautiful ballad called “If One Could Only See” .

Another incredible story Billy told me is that when he recorded his album “Somalia” he decided on the spot that the title track needed some sort of vocal chant. He quickly made up some words that felt rhythmically right “Ka Lay Bo Ding Gah” but were, to him, nonsensical. Then when he went on the road to tour the album, a Nigerian man came up to him after one of the sets and said, “Mr. Harper, thank you so much for dedicating your song to our tribe”. Billy didn't understand what the man meant until he explained that the words “Ka Lay Bo Ding Gah” meant “welcome to the occasion” in his specific tribal dialect.

Billy spoke a lot about being “tuned up”. He was a meditator and he said that he needed to always be in touch. He spoke about how he has gotten to the point where he is almost constantly meditating, mindful, present. I remember he had the 14 volume set of “The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan” on his bookshelf. I asked him about these books and he said ;

"My feeling is that music should have a purpose. In the past, it always has been used for healing and uplifting and meditation. And that’s the way I see my music. I’ve had people come up after a program to tell me that they felt a spiritual healing from the music. When that happens, I feel we’re fulfilling what we’re supposed to do. If people are entertained, that’s ok too but I certainly see a purpose in my music beyond that."

I kept working on my music over the years and would often ask Billy for advice and would freely offer it. He told me to get a computer as soon as possible because it was the way of the future. He was writing his scores out on a computer notation program way before anyone else. After many years, I would sometimes go to the New School where Billy was teaching and I would sit in with his ensembles. After a while, he called me to sub on gigs with his quintet when his regular pianist, Francesca Tanksley couldn't make the gig. Mostly it was Eddie Henderson on trumpet, Billy, Clarence Seay on bass, and Newman Taylor Baker on drums and it was an incredible experience. We also used to play once a year for Cobi Narita’s birthday party at the Jazz Church on Lexington Ave. Billy was very close to Cobi, as were many great players, and I remember hearing Harold Mabern there every year and people like Dick Katz, Nasheet Waits and Geri Allen would play and it would be a big party in the church and there would be a whole lot of soul food and music. It really felt like a warm community and I am grateful for the memories of these parties.

I did one tour to Europe and one to Australia where Billy played my own music and we also recorded my album “Widening Circles” at Avatar studios which Billy produced. We also played music from this album a few times in New York including one gig we did at the Jazz Standard and another time at Fordham University. I am forever grateful to Billy for his generosity and support while I lived in New York.

Billy told me that one time he was playing in Europe and Dexter Gordon had a gig on this festival and his drummer didn't show up, so Billy played the gig, on drums! Billy could really play the drums and sounded a lot like Elvin Jones, to be honest. Elvin played on Billy’s first album “Capra Black” actually and Billy always looked for what he called the “hunger” in drummers that he worked with and also musicians. He spoke to me a lot about the importance of this hunger. If you want to know what it is, just listen to Billy play, it's there. An important theme for Billy is this idea of the “wild and peaceful heart”. Its serenity and fire. Its grace under pressure and it is close to Flaubert’s famous quote ‘be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work’.

Billy used to say to me “lead with the gift, if money comes later then that’s ok, if not, that's ok too”. He would say that that the powers that be, can make or break an artist and that there were many great artists that could have gone as far as, say, Herbie Hancock or Wayne Shorter, but that they were just not right in the opinions of the powers that be. Some of the names he mentioned were Kenny Dorham, Ceder Walton, Stanley Cowell, Oliver Lake. I have to concur of course.

This Album was recorded at a short-lived club that was on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn called “The Up Over Jazz Cafe”. I'm not even sure what year it was, somewhere in the mid 2000s? During lockdown 6.0 here in Melbourne, I have been going through all my archived recordings and I discovered this great set with Billy’s band:

Billy Harper - Tenor sax

Eddie Henderson - Trumpet

Barney McAll - Piano

Clarence Seay - Bass

Newman Taylor Baker - Drums

I feel like Billy is playing better than ever on this and it's a treasure to have found this incredible document of sound. I hope you enjoy it and I hope it contributes to further awareness of the giant and luminous spirit that is Billy Harper, Capra Black.

All compositions by Billy Harper and published by Lyharp Music except 'My Funny Valentine' (arr. Harper)

Recorded by Barney McAll at the "Up Over Jazz Cafe" , Brooklyn. Date Unknown.

Mastered by Damon Smith - TNIAJSW Studios.

1. My Funny Valentine (arr. Billy Harper) 12:19

2. Illumination 18:45

3. Quest 12:55

4. Call Of The Wild And Peaceful Heart 16:38

5. Croquet Ballet (Excerpt) 07:44

PREORDER

McClenty Hunter Jr. - The Groove Hunter (STRIKEZONE RECORDS May 4, 2018)

McClenty Hunter Jr s groove has been a big part of the New York scene for the last ten years. He began his career in Maryland playing gospel under Darin Atwater of Soulful Symphony. He attended Howard University (studying under drum great Grady Tate), and went on to earn his Masters at Juilliard (under Carl Allen). McClenty was a member of Kenny Garrett s Grammy nominated Quintet for three years, while performing with Lou Donaldson, Eric Reed, Curtis Fuller, and Javon Jackson, among many others.

Producer/Guitarist Dave Stryker: From my own perspective, from the first gig we played together, no matter what the groove, Mac has always made it feel good, and he s been rock-solid driving my trio for 8 years now. He s one of the best drummers on the scene.

With The Groove Hunter , McClenty emerges as a leader of his own date, featuring a heavy cast which includes Eddie Henderson, Donald Harrison, Stacy Dillard, Eric Reed, Christian Sands, Dave Stryker, Corcoran Holt, and Eric Wheeler. Besides his great playing throughout, which brings out the best in everyone, McClenty s composing skills are featured on the various moods of Autumn, My Love, I Remember When and Give Thanks. He also puts his stamp on Herbie Nichol s Blue Chopsticks , Wayne Shorter s The Big Push, and a burning version of John Coltrane s Countdown featuring Donald Harrison. McClenty has one of the best shuffle grooves out there, as he shows on Stevie Wonder s That Girl. Hunter s tribute to his mentor Grady Tate, Sack Full of Dreams (a hit for Grady as vocalist) features his signature brush pocket..

With his debut recording, McClenty Hunter Jr., has shown what most of us have realized for a long time, that he is The Groove Hunter . Along with his composing and musical vision only great things lie ahead.

1. Blue Chopsticks

2. The Big Push

3. Autumn

4. That Girl

5. My Love

6. Sack Full of Dreams

7. I Remember When

8. Countdown

9. Give Thanks

McClenty Hunter Jr. - drums

Eddie Henderson - trumpet (2)

Donald Harrison - alto sax (2,8)

Stacy Dillard - tenor sax (2,3,5,9)

Eric Reed - piano (1,2,3,5,8,9)

Christian Sands - piano, fender rhodes (4,6,7)

Dave Stryker - guitar (4,6)

Corcoran Holt - bass (1,2,3,5,8,9)

Eric Wheeler -bass (4,6,7)

Media Contact

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Eddie Henderson - Be Cool (SMOKE SESSIONS RECORDS May 4, 2018)

Before he walks out the door on his way to a gig, 77-year-old trumpeter Eddie Henderson always gets two words of advice from his wife: be cool. The legendary trumpeter has taken that mantra to heart, and on Be Cool, his new release on Smoke Sessions Records, he shows just how hot cool can get.

Of course, if you're going to be cool it helps to surround yourself with the coolest of the cool, and Henderson has done just that: his smokin' quintet also features saxophonist Donald Harrison, pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Essiet Essiet, and drummer Mike Clark. Together, the band conjures smoldering funk, lush ballads, broad-shouldered swing, and bristling bop -- in all, a prismatic display of the many facets of cool.

"For me, 'be cool' means compose yourself and don't act jagged, musically or personally," Henderson offers. "One connotation is to not play so erratically, to push the envelope to the edge but not go over. It's like going fishing: if you're not prepared when you throw your line out there, you might catch Jaws instead of a minnow. Personally, it's about playing with people who love each other and share a good chemistry."

That's undoubtedly the case with the group Henderson has convened for his second Smoke Sessions outing as a leader. His relationship with Barron stretches back more than three decades, to the early days following his return to New York in the mid-'80s after a decade spent practicing medicine in San Francisco. He's been working regularly with Clark in recent years, especially in the Wolff & Clark Expedition, the drummers co-led band with pianist Michael Wolff. But they also share roots in the fusion bands of Herbie Hancock -- Henderson with Mwandishi and Clark immediately after with Headhunters. Essiet, meanwhile, has been a constant in Henderson's recent bands, while he's shared stages with Harrison under the auspices of the super-group The Cookers.

"Be Cool" was produced by Paul Stache and Damon Smith and recorded live in New York at Sear Sound's Studio C on a Sear-Avalon custom console at 96KHz/24bit and mixed to ½" analog tape using a Studer mastering deck. Available in audiophile HD format.

1 Smoke Screen 4:37

2 Be Cool 5:01

3 After You've Gone 7:04

4 Loft Funk 6:59

5 Fran-Dance 6:25

6 The Moontrane 5:26

7 Naima 7:07

8 The Sand Castle Head Hunter 6:44

9 Nightride 8:17

10 Toys 6:37

11 Easy Living 5:44

12 Dla Juzi 6:55

The Cookers - The Call of the Wild and Peaceful Heart (2016) SMOKE SESSIONS RECORDS

by GERALDINE WYCKOFF / offbeat

Hard bop supreme is served up by the Cookers, a truly all­-star ensemble that includes veterans who helped develop and shape the sound. In order to understand the scope of these musicians’ experience and magnitude it’s imperative to call out their names: bassist Cecil McBee (trumpeter Miles Davis, saxophonists Pharoah Sanders and Wayne Shorter), trumpeter Eddie Henderson (lessons from Louis Armstrong, pianist Herbie Hancock), drummer Billy Hart (Davis, Hancock), tenor saxophonist Billy Harper (pianist Randy Weston, drummers Art Blakey, Elvin Jones and Max Roach) and pianist George Cables (saxophonist Sonny Rollins and trumpeter Freddie Hubbard). Trumpeter David Weiss, the youngest member, came up with the idea of putting these hefty musicians together with little notion that nine years later they would remain a unit. With the release of The Call of the Wild and Peaceful Heart, which, like 2014’s Time and Time Again, includes the band’s newest member, alto saxophonist Donald Harrison, the Cookers have put out five outstanding albums.

The name of the album—also the disc’s first cut—tells a lot about the music. Penned by Harper, it rhythmically opens ever so slowly and peacefully. Later it explodes with the wild excitement of Harper’s tenor.

It’s Harper’s pen at work again on the lovely ballad “If One Could Only See.” Cables’ gentle piano sets the soft mood with the purity of Henderson’s trumpet leading, as if singing, the tune. All of the original material is written by members of the Cookers, enabling each composer to bring that side of his musical personality to the project.

Diversity defines the spirit of The Call of the Wild and Peaceful Heart as it runs free while referencing musical touchstones from the past. The Cookers continue as master chiefs of the bandstand.

Beyond Forever

Infinite Spirit Quartet - Revisiting Music of the Mwandishi Band (2016)

“Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi band was one of the most innovative and important jazz

creations of the late-'60s early-'70s. But the outspoken proponents of Neo-Trad

conservatism from the '80s on denigrated the reputation of all bands that used electricity

and electronics. So the legacy of Mwandishi like other key period outfits was for a time

eclipsed. With the new millennium all that has come to be reconsidered. Bob Gluck's

You'll Know When You Get There, the excellent recent book on the band, its history and

its importance has done much to restore for good and all Mwandishi's reputation as one

of the high achievements of the period.

Since Bob is a seminal pianist and electronician in his own right, it is fitting that he

express his appreciation in directly musical terms. He has done just that on the album

Infinite Spirit (FMR Records CD398-0915). For the project Bob unites with two key 

Mwandishi members, drummer Jabali Billy Hart and trumpet master Mganga Eddie

Henderson, rounding off the ensemble with the very adept acoustic bassist Christopher

Dean Sullivan.

Wisely the band does not try to duplicate the original arrangements and stylistic

parameters of classic Mwandishi. Even if that were possible what would be the point?

Instead the four adapt some of Mwandishi's best compositions and some original

material, and take the music wherever it will go, relying upon a present-day mode of

being that is free yet centered on the idea of playing off of the thematic impetus of the

numbers. And all that is in the spirit of what Mwandishi did back then anyway, only this

present-day outing features fruitfully extended improvisations in the moment of now as

the artists feel it. We get new interpretations of Hancock's "Sleeping Giant" and "You'll

Know When You Get There," plus Maupin's "Quasar" paired with Gluck's "Sideways,"

Maupin's "Water Torture," and a Sullivan composition, "Spirit Unleashed."

Bob prepared some electronic sound universes that enter into the music effectively and

appropriately at times, which of course recognizes an important element of the original

Mwandishi in the hands of Patrick Gleason. Here we get Bob Gluck's own intriguing

parallels and it adds much to the musical ambiance throughout.

The beauty and originality of this musical offering rests especially upon the lyrically

ruminating creative improvisations. Bob Gluck has his own approach to the music which

echoes Hancock's own harmonic-melodic brilliance but then gives it a spin that is all

Gluck. His piano playing is a high point throughout. Eddie Henderson sounds as

accomplished as ever here, too. He is still the master these many years later and sparks

the group with some of his best work. Christopher Dean Sullivan makes a strong case

for his essential presence in the ensemble with, yes, some ostinatos but also with an

openly free interactive melodic sense that goes perfectly well with the wide-ranging

ideas expressed by his bandmates. Billy Hart, as most everyone knows, remains one of

the outstanding drummers in the music today. His time is a thing of beauty and he uses

cymbals and drums to create real MUSIC as always. He sounds here as ever inventive

and subtle in his special driving ways.

What we have most happily on Infinite Spirit is not a typical tribute album, but a genuine

refashioning of the Mwandishi legacy according to the open-ended vision of the four in

the ever-expanding now of original personal expression and the improvisatory arts as it

has evolved since the time of the classic band. And it is most rewarding to hear this

foursome come up with a music that is an exemplary contemporary outing yet

nonetheless pays homage to another very impactful era without remaining held fast to its

dictates.

This is a quartet that holds its own as an entity very much itself--and gives us one of the

finest new jazz performances of last year. Thank you all for your continued excellence!

Readers, do not miss Infinite Spirit.” Gregory Applegate Edwards

Bob Gluck (piano, electronics)

Billy Hart (dums)

Eddie Henderson (trumpet)

Christpher Dean Sullivan (bass)

01. Sleeping Giant (feat. Billy Hart, Eddie Henderson & Christopher Dean Sullian) 13:44

02. You'll Know When You Get There (feat. Billy Hart, Eddie Henderson & Christopher Dean Sullian) 17:24

03. Sideways / Quasar (feat. Billy Hart, Eddie Henderson & Christopher Dean Sullian) 10:49

04. Spirit Unleashed (feat. Billy Hart, Eddie Henderson & Christopher Dean Sullian) 10:43

05. Water Torture (feat. Billy Hart, Eddie Henderson & Christopher Dean Sullian) 10:41

BUY THIS ALBUM!!!

Domi

Willie Jones III - Groundwork (2015)

Willie Jones III proudly honors the late Cedar Walton and Dwayne Burno, Jones’ former bandleader and band mate respectively, on Groundwork. For this seminal recording, Jones, who “never fails to assemble a strong crew” (NY Times) convenes living legends Buster Williams (bass) and Eddie Henderson (trumpet), virtuoso Eric Reed (piano) and rising stars Warren Wolf (vibes) and Stacy Dillard (saxophones). 

On this new recording, Jones explores the soulful side of jazz, performing re-imagined tunes by his former employer and great influence Cedar Walton, and debuting a tribute to Dwayne Burno composed by Eric Reed. This new collection also includes tunes by Buster Williams and more. 

Throughout his career, Willie Jones III has lent his supple rhythm and spirit to artists like Cedar Walton, Milt Jackson, Horace Silver, Sonny Rollins and Roy Hargrove. Today, he continues to prove to be one of jazz music’s most sought out bandleaders and producers, as he was named in Downbeat Critics’ Poll Drums and Producer categories. 

“Willie Jones III has deepened all the creative aspects of a musician, as a sideman, leader, composer and producer. A representative of cultured jazz, he has become indispensable.”

1. Git'cha Shout On

2. Hindsight

3. Dear Blue

4. Toku Do

5. Charity

6. Groundwork

7. New Boundary

8. Jamar

BUY THIS ALBUM!!!

Domi