Wednesday, March 14, 2018

NEW RELEASES: RC & THE GRITZ – THE FEEL; JEREMY PELT – NOIRE EN ROUGE: LIVE IN PARIS; ROSCOE MITCHELL & MONTREAL-TORONTO ART ORCHESTRA – RIDE THE WIND

RC & THE GRITZ – THE FEEL

RC Williams really outdoes himself here – moving The Gritz way past their previous role as the backing band for Erkyah Badu – and finding their own wonderfully strong sense of soul! The groove is fantastic right from the start – funky, but very fresh in approach – with lots of crisp crackle on the edges, but never in that overdone way that sometimes buries other groups – and mixed with plenty more organic instrumentation that changes nicely throughout! The singers shift too, but never in a way that feels schizophrenic – as there's a really collaborative spirit to the whole record – singers and musicians, performance and studio – all coming together to make something really fresh and wonderful. Titles include "The Feel", "Lessons", "Feathers", "Good Day To You Sir", "Anxiety", "Jazz & Reverse", and "I'll Be Waiting For You". ~ Dusty Groove

JEREMY PELT – NOIRE EN ROUGE: LIVE IN PARIS

A really great live set from trumpeter Jeremy Pelt – who seems to use the format to open up with even more bold energy than his recent studio albums! There's a freewheeling vibe here that reminds us of the way that Freddie Hubbard could really transform in a live setting – both searing as a soloist, and this very powerful force as a leader – really urging the best out of his group on the date – a quintet that includes Victor Gould on piano, Vincente Archer on bass, Jonathan Butler on drums, and Jacqueline Acevedo on percussion! The other players have this incessant energy that can't help but drive Pelt forward – and the whole group gels together wonderfully, on titles that include "Black Love Stories", "Sir Carter", "Re-Invention", "Make Noise", "Evolution", and "I Will Wait For You". ~ Dusty Groove

ROSCOE MITCHELL & MONTREAL-TORONTO ART ORCHESTRA – RIDE THE WIND

The headier side of the great Roscoe Mitchell – a project that has some of the reedman's compositions transcribed for larger orchestra performance – but at a level that seems to be a natural evolution of the notion of "black classical music" that Mitchell first helped pioneer with the AACM! Make no mistake with that term – this isn't classical music at all – instead, the larger group works here to realize this beautiful balance between improvisation and composition, almost working as a whole to embody the ideas that Mitchell has brought to his music in much smaller settings, carved out of a large group of woodwinds, a touch of brass, and a bit of strings. Gregory Oh conducts the group, and titles include "They Rode For Them", "Splatter", "Nonaah", "Shards & Lemons", and "Ride The Wind". ~ Dusty Groove


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