It's been almost a decade since the first Lumberjack Soul album from Miles Bonny – and in that time, he's grown tremendously – both as a singer and musician, and as an artist who's really in command of his sound! Miles' voice still has the raspy charm we loved before, but the overall setting is far richer and more complex – maybe in a way that owes a lot more to jazz than before, although still with just the right inflections of beats – which are balanced with all these really creative sonic touches from Bonny – shapes and sounds from trumpet, piano, moog, and some other sources that are a bit hard to figure out – mixed together wonderfully. Titles include "Day Alone", "Go With The Sun", "In This World", "Soulful Melodies", "Release & Expand", "Wantu", and "Mother Of Love". ~ Dusty Groove
There's nothing quiet about the way that Muriel Grossman approaches her music – as the saxophonist is one of the boldest, strongest voices in jazz in the past decade – one of the key proponents of the new spiritual underground, and a player who just seems to win us over more and more with each new record! This album's got the amazing rhythmic pulse of Grossman's previous records, but also shifts the sound slightly too – as in addition to the fantastic use of guitar by Radomir Milojkovic, the set also features these strongly swirling organ lines from Llorenc Barcelo – in a way that makes us imagine what it might sound like if we ever got to hear those lost jam sessions between John Coltrane and Larry Young! Grossman blows tenor, alto, and soprano sax here, with a rich sense of imagination throughout – and the rest of the group features Gina Schwarz on bass and Uros Stamenkovic on drums – on long titles that include "Wien", "African Call", "Quiet Earth", and "Peaceful River". ~ Dusty Groove
Drummer Quincy Davis has a very visionary approach here – music that makes a bold statement for his role as a leader, as Davis works here with three different groups on a strong set of original material! The mix of players is wonderful – shading in and adding voice to Quincy's music in different ways – sometimes with a septet that includes Philip Dizack on trumpet, Myron Walden on alto, Peter Bernstein on guitar, and JD Allen on tenor – other times with a quintet that has the great Warren Wolf on vibes and Dayna Stephens on tenor. There's also two trio tracks – with excellent piano from Xavier Davis and bass from Ugonna Okegwo – and in the other groups, Adam Birnbaum handles piano, with either Richie Goods or Vicente Archer on bass. Davis has this great way of blending darkness and light in his compositions, in a style that's echoed strongly by the soloists – on titles that include "Shorter Days", "Nat Turner", "Lost In Thought", "The Creeper", "Outbreak", and "Slippery Slope". ~ Dusty Groove
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