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New Jazz & Blues Releases – 8/3/2021

New Jazz Releases:

The Free Bridge Quintet – Off To See the Wizard: The Music of Harold Arlen (Self-Produced): Live performance of Arlen’s wonderful music presented by The Free Bridge Quintet, featuring Robert Jospe (drums), Jeff Decker (sax), Peter Spaar (bass), John D’earth (trumpet) and Bob  Hallahan (piano). Click here to hear a segment of a live performance.

Art Hirahara – Open Sky (Posi-Tone): “Pianist Art Hirahara turns his musical aspirations toward an “Open Sky,” unveiling a subtly evocative set of melodic insights and intimate emotional expressions for his sixth release on Posi-Tone. Spreading his sensitivities and talents across the piano keyboard, Hirahara presents listeners with a seamless aggregate of brilliant next level compositions and graceful interpretations amalgamated by accompaniment from some the finest musicians on the scene today. This captivating collection of hard hitting performances features Hirahara playing alongside bassist Boris Kozlov and drummer Rudy Royston, as well as guest appearances from saxophonist Nicole Glover and vibraphonist Behn Gillece, all of whom come together to employ a wide palette of harmony and color to elucidate the structures while steadily holding down the backline groove with a cavalcade of contrapuntal rhythms. Featuring a tour de force combination of talents, brilliant musicianship, and an evocative program of new compositions, Hirahara’s “Open Sky” is guaranteed to bring a wide range of bright moments and intense joy to jazz fans everywhere.” (https://www.posi-tone.com/opensky/opensky.html) Hirahara is truly one of the amazing artists on piano and composers of our time. Click here to listen to the songs on this disc.

Brian Jackson, Ali Muhammad & Adrian Younge – 8 (Jazz Is Dead): “One happy thing to be grateful for during otherwise trying times is finally getting to hear and enjoy new work by a man whose music is familiar to millions even if his name is less so. Indeed, Gil Scott-Heron continues to cast such a wide shadow that even many of his biggest fans often seem to forget that there’s another name next to his on the bulk of his albums, the name of a man teamed up with Gil as a teenager and proceeded to ride out the decade as his writing partner, keyboardist, arranger, and bandleader for their Midnight Band. That man’s name is Brian Jackson. His considerable backlog of unheard material reveals a still-energetic and still-vital icon of the music wing of the Black Liberation movement. Prepare to hear from a musician whose work has contributed to the enhancement of all our lives in some form or another with the latest installment of the Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge’s Jazz Is Dead series.“Brian Jackson is the first album we recorded for Jazz Is Dead. He set the tone for the entire label,” reflects Younge. “He turned our aspirations global. We never knew what this could all be, but with his inspirational character and musicianship, he led us on the right path. We are forever indebted to this icon.” Brian Jackson JID008… is the first full album released by the great man in 20 years (with the exception of Evolutionary Minded, an homage to Gil released eight years ago) and it’s a testament to his multifaceted talents that while there are moments throughout that hint at his game-changing history and track record, for the most part it reveals a musician who pulls from lessons garnered over a 50+ year career only to keep his eyes firmly fixed on the future. “When we got together, the sounds flowed effortlessly,” recalls Jackson. “As Dru, Adrian, Adam and I were charting a course for Jazz Is Dead from outside of our imaginations to a destination of wonder and possibilities, in walks legend and fellow Brooklynite Brian Jackson,” says Shaheed Muhammad. “We let the impact be our guide, fully capturing the moment in this recording. Brian’s smile and free flowing style takes us to the place where groove meets chill. This is the dawning of JID recordings.” Brian Jackson JID008 serves as a masterclass in unbridled and open-minded creativity, no different from what Jackson did half a century ago. The ease and comfort with which his ideas integrate with those of musicians a generation younger than him bears this out. To listen to this album is to hear a hot up-and-coming musician who also happens to be a major jazz-funk legend. Jackson really earned the equal billing on that string of classic Arista albums he and Gil made together because he went a long way towards keeping the musical ship of Gil Scott-Heron, Brian Jackson, and the Midnight Band’s musical ship afloat. Many of the classic tracks on those albums bear Jackson’s name alongside Gil’s in the writing credits and his distinctive musical signature brought all of it to life. Jackson has kept a considerably lower profile over the last few decades since those halcyon days but those fortunate enough to have caught him live playing and singing the GSH/BJ classics he was so central in creating (as well as tantalizing glimpses of newer material) know that his music, chops, wisdom, and charm are fully intact and in fact even better than ever, like a bottle of fine jazz-funk wine.” (http://dlmediamusic.com/artists/ali-shaheed-muhammad/brian-jackson-jid008-brian-jackson-ali-shaheed-muhammad-adrian-younge-august-6-via-jazz-is-dead/) Click here to listen to “Mars Walk” from this release.

Hilary Kole- Sophisticated (Self-produced): “Consummate vocalist and New York City jazz staple Hilary Kole is thrilled to announce the release of Sophisticated Lady. Adorned by Kole’s soulful vocal sensibilities and a stellar band of first-rate instrumentalists, Kole’s latest release is a collection of mature, nuanced renditions of jazz classics which retain a spirit both heartfelt and adventurous. For nearly two decades, Kole has been heralded for her intimate piano and vocal performances, themed shows with her jazz ensemble, special concert hall symphony performances and critically acclaimed recordings showcasing her compositional prowess. With Sophisticated Lady, Kole lends her voice to 11 archetypal songs from the jazz idiom. Accompanying Kole on this auspicious release is her longtime rhythm section made up of guitarist John Hart, pianist Adam Birnbaum, bassist Paul Gill, drummer Aaron Kimmel, vibraphonist Tom Beckham and woodwinds player Chris Byars who created the thoughtful arrangements for the vast majority of the album’s tracks…. Kole decided that she wanted to create a tapestry of sound that made this record different and unique even in its familiarity. Long a fan of Chris Byars’ playing and arranging, Kole knew that Byars would be up to the task. “When I realized I wanted a classic but unique sound,” Kole exclaimed, “I immediately thought of him – and I’m so glad I did. What Chris came up with is dark and beautiful and challenging – not your average small group charts, and just what I wanted.” (https://lydialiebman.com/index.php/2021/06/25/new-release-hilary-koles-sophisticated-lady-is-out-july-23-2021/) Beautiful vocals and fresh arrangements give the listener a wonderful enjoyment.  I regret I am unable to find a sample by Kole to share from this amazing set.

James Brandon Lewis Red Lily Quintet – Jesup Wagon (Tao Forms): “TAO Forms is rather stoked to present this astonishing new work from the fertile creative mind of tenor saxophonist–composer James Brandon Lewis. Performed by the Red Lily Quintet, an exceptional & singular inter-generational ensemble, this album speaks to the forever-evolving continuum of the jazz tradition. Voted Rising Star Tenor Saxophonist in the 2020 DownBeat Magazine International Critic’s Poll, James Brandon Lewis supercharges his remarkable evolution with Jesup Wagon, a brilliant and evocative appreciation of the life and legacy of turn-of-the-19th century African-American musician-painter-writer-scientist George Washington Carver. [Sustainable agriculture was a key component of Carver’s prescient thoughts into action; his Jesup Wagon was a key part of that]. This album consists of seven pieces that create a portrait of stunning clarity and depth.There is so much special about this recording, James’ 9th, starting with [on the way in] the lavish artwork, including a reproduction on the cover of Carver’s own tantalizing drawing of the Jesup Agricultural Wagon, which is shown in a photograph on the back cover, rendering a dialogue of representation and abstraction that Lewis models in the music.” (https://jamesbrandonlewis.bandcamp.com/album/jesup-wagon) Click here to listen to sample selections.

William Parker – Mayan Space Station (AUM Fidelity): “Over his prolific, five-plus-decade career, bassist and composer William Parker’s inexhaustible willingness to collaborate and experiment has led him to work with hundreds of instrumentalists, singers, poets, dancers, and painters, but rarely guitarists. Mayan Space Station is his first time leading a guitar-based power trio with drummer Gerald Cleaver and Brooklyn-based electric guitarist Ava Mendoza (a member of Unnatural Ways). The six selections here were all composed by the bassist for this group. It’s one of two Parker-led outings issued simultaneously on Aum Fidelity….” (https://www.allmusic.com/album/mayan-space-station-mw0003510856) “Tabasco” commences with Cleaver and Parker in a hard- grooving circular vamp. Mendoza weaves a knotty head through their dancing rhythms. Her solo enfolds their vamps then spirals as she weaves a knotty head through their dancing rhythms then spirals off into edgy fills, feedback, and spiky post-rock riffs while the rhythm section begins swinging behind her. Her playing here is highly original, yet offers trace echoes of Monette Sudler’s arpeggiated technique during the 1970s and Sonny Sharrock’s late union of force, noise, and transcendent melody…. Mayan Space Station is a deeply focused, inspired set that uses familiar sounds, styles, and sources in building an engine for wide-ranging exploration resulting from uncommonly intimate musical communication.” (https://www.allmusic.com/album/mayan-space-station-mw0003510856) Click here and scroll down to listen to songs on this release.

William Parker – Painters Winter (AUM Fidelity): Painters Winter features the reconvened trio communion of Daniel Carter, William Parker , and Hamid Drake. Carter & Parker have been perpetual space-ways traveling companions since first meeting & immediately beginning to channel music together in early 1970s NYC. Their work together in Other Dimensions In Music with Roy Campbell & Rashid Bakr for well over two decades manifest in bountiful music for the ages. They recently featured together in similar majestic open form on the album, Seraphic Light. Here, Carter again brings the full assembly of instruments he has for decades been a master of: trumpet, alto & tenor saxophones, clarinet and flute. Likewise, Hamid Drake is a musician’s musician; one of the most in-demand drummers in the world. He is in command of a vast lexicon of drum languages, learned and absorbed directly. His frequent flyer miles could get him a ticket to Saturn and back. Drake & Parker launched their devoted “two-man big band” partnership in 2000 and haven’t stopped since. In trio with Daniel Carter, they’ve created one previous album together, Painters Spring, released that same year. Regarding this album’s title, Parker elucidates, “It speaks to those who paint with sound, in different landscapes, to celebrate the coming of the seasons: winter spring summer and autumn. Acknowledging the entire universe of world jazz music. Discovering the undiscovered.” And from his liner notes, “The music on this album is a tribute to the flow of rhythm as melody and pulsation. Laced with the joy and the bounce, the dance and the heartbeat. Giving a nod to all the music that has ever passed through us..” (https://williamparker.bandcamp.com/album/painters-winter) Click here to listen to two songs from this release.

New Blues Releases:

Polly O’Keary & The Rhythm Method – 50 (Self-produced): “A century ago, blues was born in the fields of the South, played on porches and in little backwoods bars by kerosene lamp. The times have changed, and it’s a rare blues musician who grew up picking cotton and going home to learn to play by the light of a kerosene lamp. Polly O’Keary certainly didn’t. Well, that is, she didn’t pick cotton. She picked apples. But she learned to read music by kerosene lamp, in a log cabin in a remote part of Washington State. She started playing in ex-pat bars in Mexico at 16, and Eastern Washington watering holes for rural farm workers at the age of 17. Today, she’s a PhD student, a world-traveled bassist, one of Washington State’s most highly-awarded female blues singers and songwriters (six-time Washington Blues Society Best Female Vocalist, four-time Best Blues Songwriter, etc.) Polly O’Keary is today’s blues woman, rooted in tradition, but informed by the 21st Century. Pulling in influences from zydeco, country, funk, jazz, rockabilly, surf and rock and roll, she and her trio, Polly O’Keary and the Rhythm Method, bring a searing and joyful performance of today’s blues to audiences across the U.S. and Canada.” ( http://www.pollyokeary.com/bio.html) This appears to be her third release and it is powerful. Click here to check out this powerful stomper! 

Tedeschi Trucks Band – Layla Revisited (Live At LOCKN’) 2019 (Fantasy): “Tedeschi Trucks Band’s Layla Revisited (Live At LOCKN’) is a one-off live recording of the seminal Derek & The Dominos album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, performed in its entirety with special guest Trey Anastasio. Recorded on August 24, 2019 at the LOCKN’ Festival in Arrington, VA, Layla Revisited captures Tedeschi Trucks Band at their incendiary best, with Anastasio proving the perfect foil to the transcendent musical union of guitarist Derek Trucks and guitarist/vocalist Susan Tedeschi, and frequent TTB collaborator Doyle Bramhall II, further supporting a live experience that, in the words of Uproxx’s Steven Hyden, provides “life-affirming shelter from the soul-destroying storm.”  performance of Layla came as a complete surprise to fans lucky enough to be in attendance at LOCKN’ that evening. Initially billed only as “Tedeschi Trucks Band featuring Trey Anastasio,” the artists made no mention of the set of music they diligently rehearsed and planned ahead of time. But the links between the band and the album are deeply woven into the fabric of their existence. Propelled by two of the twentieth century’s greatest guitarists, Eric Clapton and Duane Allman, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs was serendipitously released on November 9,1970, the very day of Susan Tedeschi’s birth. Later, Chris and Debbie Trucks were such fans of the album that they were inspired to name their firstborn son Derek. Decades later, Trucks would enjoy a fifteen-year tenure as a member of The Allman Brothers Band, and tour extensively with Clapton. Such is the depth of connection between the music and the performers that this album feels almost preordained.“By the time that I started playing guitar, the sound of Duane Allman’s slide was almost an obsession,” says Derek Trucks about Layla. “His playing on Layla is still one of the high-water marks for me. The spirit, the joy, the recklessness, and the inevitability of it. My dad would play that record for me and my brother to fall asleep to and further sear it into my DNA.” These cosmic coincidences all align on Layla Revisited as Tedeschi Trucks Band give fans an invigorated, inventive take on beloved classics from “I Looked Away” and “Bell Bottom Blues,” to the album’s iconic title track. For the live festival concert the band ended with “Layla” and decided to play the original version of the album closer over the PA system as walk-out music.  To complete this release Layla Revisited concludes with a history-making moment of its own, as Derek and Susan deliver a studio version of “Thorn Tree In The Garden,” for the first time ever as a duo with no additional accompaniment. Click here to listen to Tedeshi Trucks play “Layla” from this release.

Johnny Tucker – 75 And Alive (Blue Heart): “I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, 75 and Alive, from Johnny Tucker featuring Kid Ramos and the Allstars and it’s really good. Opening with All Night Long, All Night Wrong, a hot swinging shuffle, Kid Ramos on guitar shows why he is one of the top slingers in the business. Teaming up with Johnny Tucker on vocal, these guys are really humming with Carl Sonny Leyland on piano, John Bazz on bass, Jason Lozano on drums, Bob Corritore on harmonica, and with exceptional backing from Ron Dziubla on sax. Wow! Slow blues, There’s A Time for Love, is a terrific track, really showcasing Tuckers soulful feel and giving Ramos a wide open road to show just how good he really is. Been listening to Ramos for years and on the rare chance that you don’t know him from his solo work, this is an excellent sampling of his crisp, fluid style and bluesful phrases. Excellent! Chicago style shuffle, Can’t You See is another solid vocal blues number with strong piano work by Leyland. Latin fused, What’s the Matter gets a real going wit some great bends by Ramos adding great guitar tension a la Albert King. Dziubla’s sax really punches up the bottom and Lozano’s drum work is snappy. Hot! Snowplow is a strong instrumental with solo breaks for Ramos, Leyland, and Diubla. Strong loping shuffle with toneful jams. High energy, piano boogie, What’s On My Mind is a driving from start to finish. Leyland drives the boat with a great bass line from Bazz and Corritore’s harmonica work sweet. The band really gets humming on this one and Tucker gets so geared up that he’s hooting. Excellent! Ramos breaks out his slide on Dance Like I Should giving it a real Chicago feel and between Tuckers hooting, Corritore’s harmonica, and Leyland’s piano work, this is another great addition. Wrapping the release is funky blues, Gotta Do It One Time, with a great presence. Bazz’s bass is very active and Leyland really stirs the pot on piano. Ramos plays hot riffs under the lead and Tucker’s natural excitement gives this final track a great kick. Never like to say this is the best or anything, but this is one of the best blues releases I’ve heard this year. Congratulations! (https://www.bmansbluesreport.com/2021/07/blue-heart-records-artist-johnny-tucker.html) B Man and his Blues Report sure hit the nail on the head! This is a certified Professor Bebop “Wax Devoid of Cracks”! Click here to see what I mean!

Wee Willie Walker – Not In My Lifetime (Blue Dot): “The final recording of soul legend Wee Willie Walker & The Anthony Paule Soul Orchestra. After releasing singles on Checker and Goldwax Wee Willie Walker stayed close to his home in Minneapolis for decades. Re-emerging in 2015 on the national and international scene Willie has released 3 critically acclaimed albums. Not In My Lifetime is the 4th. Only three days after the recording sessions wrapped up, Willie passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. For this reason the release is bittersweet, but a fitting addition to Walker’s legacy. He finished on a high note. . . literally. Produced by the legendary Jim Gaines.” (https://www.amazon.com/Lifetime-Willie-Walker-Anthony-Orchestra/dp/B093B4M48H) Walker was a dynamic singer and songwriter. Click here to listen to a song from this disc.

Kopasetically,

Professor Bebop