Jazz Gumbo

Artist / Tune / Album // Buckshot Lefonque / Music Evolution / Music Evolution // McCoy Tyner / Love Surrounds Us / Uptown/Downtown // Lonnie Smith / Mama Wailer / Mama Wailer // Max Roach / Caravanserai / M’Boom // Clifford Brown & Max Roach / Delilah / Jordu // Return to Forever / Musicmagic / Musicmagic // Cinematic Orchestra / Channel 1 Suite / Motion // Abdullah Ibrahim / Tintiyana, First Part / African Space Program // Miles Davis / Black Satin / On The Corner // Julius Hemphill / At Harmony / Julius Hemphill Big Band // Music Revelation Ensemble / Time Table / No Wave // So good to be back at this after several weeks off! I had a taste for a BIG BAND sound while picking albums to bring in for the set, so several of the selections feature that. For a few of these artists, these numbers vary enormously from the sound they're usually associated with. That goes for Chick Corea and Abdullah Ibrahim, in particular. For someone like McCoy Tyner, on the other hand, this sound goes perfectly with his aggressive, heavy-handed chordal style, which comes through even in small group recordings. I want to call attention to M'Boom, the Max Roach ensemble, which, in addition to being a larger group, is also all percussive (on the show, I described it as all instrumental). Max and company create great textures with the wide range of instruments employed on this album. And finally, I included a quartet recording that to me SOUNDS like a Big Band. That being the Music Revelation Ensemble, featuring James Blood Ulmer on guitar, David Murray on sax, Amin Ali on bass, and Ronald Shannon Jackson on drums. Their offering represents a style of music that can strike the ear as very abrasive. But if it occurs to you as such, I ask that you bear with it. There's a wonderful balance and richness these four mold out of this dense and weighty sound. Allow your ears to dissolve in it, and you will feel as much as hear the flow of a mighty, sonic river beneath your feet! For the playlists of all past sets go to: www.jazzgumbo.blogspot.ca