STEVE TURRE - SPIRITMAN
A great straight set from this top-shelf trombonist – done
at the same relaxed, stretched-out level of some of the other excellent albums
on the Smoke Sessions label – no tricks, no gimmicks, just a great
demonstration of Steve Turre's strengths as a leader, and his always-sharp
ability to solo! The group features Bruce Williams on soprano and alto sax, and
Xavier Davis on piano – and rhythm is from Gerald Cannon on bass and the great
Willie Jones III on drums – the latter of whom keeps things moving with just
the right crackle on the groovers, but lets Cannon gently shape the mellower
cuts with his bass. Turre's horn sounds wonderfully mellifluous – and Williams
often steps back a bit to let the leader shine first, before swooping in for
his own strong solos. Titles include "Trayvon's Blues",
"Nangadef", "Spiritman/All Blues", "Bu",
"Peace", and "Funky Thing".
~ Dusty Groove
HENRY FRANKLIN - TWO VIEWS
Bassist Henry Franklin is still very much at the top of his
game here – grabbing our attention right away, as he has with his other
excellent recent releases on his own label – playing with this strong, soulful
quality that really steps off from his better-known work of the 70s! The album
features reedman Benn Clatworthy throughout – on either tenor or flute – and
the "two views" in the title comes from the use of either pianist
Cecila Coleman or Kirk Lightsey, who each provide a slightly different flavor
on the tracks on which they appear! Drummer Carl Burnett's in the group – but
the tracks with Coleman don't have any drums at all – which makes for this
special sort of interplay between her piano and Franklin's bass – and the album
also features a bit of guitar from Calvin Keys, plus some percussion as well.
Titles include some interesting originals by Clatworthy – "Kandahar"
and "Blues For Drayce" – and other titles include versions of Joe
Henderson's "Punjab", Lightsey's "Heaven's Dance", Frank
Strozier's "Frank's Tune", and Clare Fischer's "Pensativa"
– which is always one of our favorites. ~ Dusty Groove
THE CHEEBACARA - RETOUCHED
Cheebacabra return to the funky fold – with a set that
offers up both unreleased material for the sessions from their previous three
records, plus remixes of tracks from those albums as well! The remixes take a
variety of approaches – some really cutting into the tunes, some layering more
elements on top – including some nice instrumental twists – and the studio
outtakes are used in between each remix track, almost like cool little
"skit" instrumentals, as you'd find in a classic hip hop set! We
especially love these outtakes – as they're lean, and mighty funky – often with
great drums and keyboards – and remix tracks include "Osgood Schlatter (DJ
Dinya rmx)", "Adventures Beyond (Cheeba rmx)", "Pass The
Information (Art Hodge rmx)", "The Delivery (9dw rmx)",
"Hidden Valley (Funkscribe rmx)", and "The Players Rendezvous
(Naoki Yoda rmx)" ~ Dusty Groove
No comments:
Post a Comment