Thursday, May 12, 2016

NEW MUSIC: GEORGE MCCRAE – LOVE; CARLA BLEY / ANDY SHEPPARD / STEVE SWALLOW – ANANDO EL TIEMPO; JACK DEJOHNETTE / RAVI COLTRANE / MATTHEW GARRISON - IN MOVEMENT

GEORGE MCCRAE – LOVE

The first new album from Miami soul legend George McCrae since, well, we're not quite sure how long – but we're sure happy he's back! Love is a joyous, irresistible paean to early-to-late 70s soul sound he made his name on back in the day – and it's really endearing stuff! He's not setting out to reinvent the wheel, nor hop onto contemporary trends – and it's a charming winner all the way. What a joy it is to hear George's voice in such fine form after all these years on a sweet batch of tunes. Includes "Love", "We Got Love", Longing For You", "Call Me", "Count On Me", "Ooh Baby Baby", "Sexy Woman", "Taste Of Heaven", "Living Out A Dream", "Rosanna", "Brand New Man", "Beautiful" and more. ~ Dusty Groove

CARLA BLEY / ANDY SHEPPARD / STEVE SWALLOW – ANANDO EL TIEMPO

Beautiful trio work from pianist and composer Carla Bley – with longtime partners Andy Sheppard on tenor and soprano saxes and Steve Swallow on bass – whose work together has only gotten more lyrical, poetic and sublime over the years! The 3-part "Andando El Tiempo" is framed to represent the stages of addiction, subtly building from haunting and meditative, to knowingly sad (though no less beautiful), to brighter and hopeful in mood over it's 3 longish pieces. "Saints Alive!" is a slow-building gem itself, with the most brilliant interplay between the piano and bass of the entire session, and the closer "Naked Bridges/Diving Brides" evokes a variety of moods in it's 10+ minutes. ~ Dusty Groove


JACK DEJOHNETTE / RAVI COLTRANE / MATTHEW GARRISON - IN MOVEMENT 

Wonderful trio session with lengendary drummer Jack DeJohnette working with incredibly talented next generation scions Ravi Coltrane and Matthew Garrison! Includes a loose, slow-building mood setter of an opener in their take on John Coltrane's "Alabama", which nicely set up the excellent originals "In Movement" and "Two Jimmys" – the former a great showcase for Ravi's solos and the latter doing the same trick for Garrison's sly, almost sinister bass groove. It's strong from beginning-to-end, too, DeJohnette being such a vital creative spark to this day! Other titles include "Blue In Green, a shadowy take on Earth Wind & Fire's "Serpentine Fire", "Lydia", "Rashied" and "Soulful Ballad".  ~ Dusty Groove


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