Cyrus Chestnut – There’s a Sweet Sweet Spirit (HIGH NOTE RECORDS 2017)

Cyrus Chestnut's 2016 effort, the superb Natural Essence, benefitted greatly from his pairing with the duo of bassist Buster Williams and drummer Lenny White. Thankfully, the pianist has followed up with another engaging set featuring the same veteran luminaries. An adept virtuoso talent, Chestnut soars alongside Williams and White on 2017's There's a Sweet Sweet Spirit. Elder jazz statesmen, Williams and White have decades of experience under their hats with credits for such legends as Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard, Art Blakey, Woody Shaw, and many others. Similarly, Chestnut has worked with such luminaries as Terence Blanchard, Betty Carter, Wynton Marsalis, and more. While all of his albums are worth checking out, there is something inspired and kinetic about his playing with Williams and White, as if they are all three pushing each other to discover new avenues of expression. Joining them this time on several tracks is yet another volcanic talent in vibraphonist Steve Nelson.

Though he only appears on three cuts, his warm harmonic resonance contrasts beautifully with Chestnut's as they dig into an expansive late-'60s jazz sound on two of vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson's best-known compositions, "Little B's Poem" and "The Littlest One of All." Away from Nelson, Chestnut displays his genre-bending skills on "Chopin Prelude," transfiguring the classical piece first with a cubist Thelonious Monk-style intro and later with a swinging Ellingtonian mid-section. Similarly compelling are the group's muscular and exotic take on Miles Davis' "Nardis" and a spritely reading of Williams' "Christina." Elsewhere, they deliver a languid and romantic take on the Stylistics' 1973 classic "You Make Me Feel Brand New," and dive headlong into the pianist's own Latin-infused "CDC." Ultimately, if there's one overriding sentiment that drives all of There's a Sweet Sweet Spirit, it's Chestnut and his band's spirit of soulful camaraderie. ~ Matt Collar

The Littlest One of All

Chopin Prelude

Nardis

Little B's Poem

Christina

CDC

You Make Me Feel Brand New

Easy Living

Rhythm-A-Ning

There's a Sweet, Sweet Spirit

CYRUS CHESTNUT, piano

Buster Williams, bass

Lenny White, drums

Steve Nelson, vibes

Jeremy Pelt - Make Noise! (HIGH NOTE RECORDS 2017)

A bandleader can command with his ego or he can direct from his heart. At the top of his game after twenty-plus years of musical experience, it's obvious that Jeremy Pelt, his exceptional talents as a trumpeter and composer accounted for, has tapped into a generous and encouraging spirit and built Make Noise! from the band up. That is, Pelt's four handpicked musical compatriots were fully expected to bring a firm artistic identity and fertile ideas to the game, which not surprisingly, each offered in abundance.

Allowing his bandmates to shine only threw greater light on their intuitive leader. In addition to leading his own bands since the turn of the new millennium, Pelt worked with such legendary jazz veterans as Johnny Griffin, Cedar Walton, Wayne Shorter, James Moody and Louis Hayes. Throughout Make Noise!, Pelt incorporates his accumulated knowledge of still vital jazz conventions, while also blending dynamic contemporary rhythmic and harmonic ploys in to the mix.

1. Prologue - Introduction to "Make Noise!"

2. Make Noise!

3. Prince

4. Cry Freedom

5. Digression

6. Introduction to "Evolution"

7. Evolution

8. Chateau d'Eau

9. Your First Touch...

10. Bodega Social

Jeremy Pelt, trumpet

Victor Gould, piano

Vicente Archer, bass

Jonathan Barber, drums

Jacquelene Acevedo, percussion