EDDIE PALMIERI - IS DOIN' IT IN THE PARK THE EP
Some of
the best work we've heard in years from the legendary Eddie Palmieri – sounds
recorded especially for a film on pick-up basketball in New York City, and done
with a style that really takes us back to Eddie's best records from years back!
The music is very jazzy – with long passages that feature strong solos on piano
from Palmieri, vibes from Joe Locke, and baritone sax from Ronnie Cuber –
played with a freewheeling intensity that goes way beyond any scene-setting
need of a film score, and which is filled with the mix of spontaneous energy
and sophisticated ideals of Palmieri's best compositions. The percussion is
wonderful, too – very rootsy, and beautifully recorded – and the whole thing is
punctuated by a few short spoken bits from the film. A true treasure to file
next to your Fania classics – with tracks that include "Jibarita Y Su
Son", "Bata 2nd & 3rd Movement", "Give The Drummer
Some", "Coast To Coast", and "More Moves/The
Chef". ~ Dusty Groove
KAHIL EL'ZABAR'S RITUAL TRIO - FOLLOW THE SUN
One of
the best albums in years from percussionist Kahil El'Zabar – a really wonderful
set that features lots of great guest vocals from soulful singer Dwight Trible!
Kahil's sung himself on other records – and does so on two tracks – but
Dwight's presence here is really amazing, and the group provides Trible with
some of the sharpest musical accompaniment he's had in years – a really dynamic
setting that's filled with soul and spirituality, thanks to work from Ari Brown
on tenor and piano, Junius Paul on bass, and Kahil himself on drums, kalimba,
and earth drum. The album also features another excellent guest – the Chicago
legend Duke Payne, who worked famously in the 60s with Odell Brown & The
Organizers – heard here on second tenor, and on some ultra-cool bagpipes too –
played in a mode that's like Rufus Harley! Two titles feature El'Zabar vocally
duetting with Trible – "Great Black Music" and the coolest version of
"Grandma's Hands" you'll ever hear, done with deep acoustic basslines
and percussion – and other titles include "Inner Heart", "Follow
The Sun", "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise", "Our
Journey", and "Up Your Mind". ~ Dusty Groove
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ANGELICA SANCHEZ / WADADA LEO SMITH - TWINE FOREST
We
always love the trumpet work of Wadada Leo Smith – a player we've been digging
since the 70s – but it somehow sounds especially great here in the company of
pianist Angelica Sanchez, whose lines on the keys bring out this sense of
soulful flow that we haven't heard from Leo in years! Make no mistake, the
music is still relatively free and improvised – but there's a combination of
tone and color that's really tremendous – two voices that really find a great
space in each other, as melodic moments mix with starker passages – on titles
that include "Retinal Sand", "Cones Of Chrome", "Twine
Forest", "Ultimate Causes", "In The Falls Of", and
"Light Black Birds". ~ Dusty Groove
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