Jazz Gumbo

Artist - Tune - Album James Brown - Cold Sweat - 30 Golden Hits Al Jarreau - Morning - Jarreau JoAnne Brackeen - Beagles Boogie - Ancient Dynasties Buckshot LeFonque - Weary With Toil - Music Evolution Pat Metheny - Two Folk Songs – Part II - 80/81 Vital Information - Global Beats - Global Beat Vital Information - Black Eyebrows - Global Beat Joe Williams - Sounds Of The Night - Jump For Joy Max Roach - St. Louis Blues - Drums Unlimited Carla Bley - Sing Me Softly Of The Blues - Dinner Music Dave Douglas - Orujo - Spirit Moves Marcus Miller featuring Macy Gray - Girls and Boys - Silver Rain Michael Gregory Jackson - Gifts - Gifts Nguyên Lê - Evening Glory - Walking On The Tiger’s Tail Nina Simone - Feeling Good - Compact Jazz: Nina Simone Charlie Parker - Ornithology - Anthology Herbie Hancock - Actual Proof - Thrust The ode to musical styles past and present that introduces Jazz Gumbo is “Music Evolution” by Branford Marsalis and Buckshot LeFonque. Playlists for all past Sets of Jazz Gumbo will be found at jazzgumbo.blogspot.ca I guess it’s inevitable that after 160+ shows, much of the music I play on Jazz Gumbo has been played here before. After all, I have my favorite artists, and from each of them, I have favorite cuts. I’m always discovering great new artists and music, but not at the rate of 15 cuts per week. So, I’m pleased that half of tonight’s selections are first time features, and that I’m featuring two artists for the first time, they being Dave Douglas and Joe Williams, the former a contemporary musician I’m just getting to know, and the latter, a great of yesteryear, whom I’ve known about but have never tried to fit here. The opening bass line of the Williams piece is very interesting. With that arrangement, it might be taken as something pretty contemporary. My ear half expected Elizabeth Shepherd to come in for the vocal. From that angle, it strikes the ear as something ‘retro modern’, instead of just old. But Williams has a strong, clear and beautiful voice, so he pulls it off. And it fits nicely into the Set. I want to mention one of the pieces I have featured before. Nina Simone has been around for a long time, and I’ve long been familiar with her work, but only in recent years has she become a personal favorite. Odd, isn’t it, how we grow into and out of music. This tune is so spectacular in its depth of feeling. That’s one of the things that surely set Simone apart. You hear her emotion in just about everything she does. Okay, one more mention. Herbie Hancock’s early fusion albums, Headhunters and Thrust, in particular, just get better and better. The music is so rich and deep, in rhythm and tone and harmony. It’s so layered and complex, yet flows so hard. This fusion is to hard bop what a mango is to a peach! When I really let myself be immersed in it, it carries me places. So brilliant! Love & Happiness, People! Kirby