BENNY GOLSON
– HORIZON AHEAD
Rock-solid
work from the legendary Benny Golson – part of an amazing run of late-life
sessions that have had us falling in love with his talents all over again! The
set's got a very firm core – piano from Mike LeDonne, bass from Buster
Williams, and drums from Carl Allen – players who have all the sense of
confidence, complication, and swing to match Golson's rich work on tenor – that
raspy tone and careful way of phrasing that we always loved, even at the start,
but which has emerged to make Benny a player who's touched whole new
generations in recent years. Tracks include the original titles "Jump
Start", "Horizon Ahead", "Domingo", and "Night
Shade" – and the set also features Carl Allen's "Out Of The Darkness
& Into The Light", which has a compelling spoken introduction
too. ~ Dusty Groove
PRESSURE 75 –
MELTDOWN
Heavy funk,
with some 70s Afro touches too – served up with some help from the Mighty
Mocambos, Spike Orchestra, The Snitch, and other deep funk combos too! The
horns here are nice and heavy, but used in a way that's different from both
familiar Afro Funk and Ethio-styled work too – more open-ended, and with some
great jazzy solos at all the right moments – taking the place of any vocals,
and really giving the songs a fresh sort of energy! Rhythms are very heavy at
the bottom – standard drums mixed with congas, bongos, and other percussion –
and the basslines sew things together, but keep things nice and loose, too – so
that the individual musicians get a chance to step out strongly on their own.
Titles include "Meltdown", "Red Sea", "Kurzzug",
"Plan Of Attack", "Binturong", "Ajebutter", and
"Standing On The Shoulders Of Giantslayers". ~ Dusty Groove
GOGO PENGUIN –
FANFARES
The title's
a great one for this indie album from Gogo Penguin – because the music's got a
sense of fanfare and majesty right from the start – a cascading blend of piano,
bass, and drums – but in a way that's quite different than a standard jazz
trio! Gogo Penguin are a group who are bursting out elsewhere on Blue Note, but
are equally at home on the UK spiritual jazz label Gondwana – where they seem
to get the chance to stretch out a bit more, and even show some slight outside
tendencies in their music. All titles are originals by the group – and tracks
include "Seven Sons Of Bjorn", "Last Words",
"Unconditional", "I Am That", "Akasthesia",
"HF", and "Fanfares". ~ Dusty Groove
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