The Cookers: Believe (2012)

Troy Collins

Senior Contributor since 2006

After hearing Sonny Sharrock's Ask The Ages, there was no turning back.

Recent articles (518 total)

Published: June 25, 2012

Believe is The Cooker's third release in as many years, celebrating the all-star septet's fifth anniversary as a working group. More than just a collective of high-profile scene veterans (named after Freddie Hubbard Freddie Hubbard
1938 - 2008
trumpet 's live 1965 Blue Note recording Night of the Cookers), the lineup's impressive credentials collectively span from the acoustic hard bop of Art Blakey Art Blakey
1919 - 1990
drums 's Jazz Messengers to the electrified funk of Herbie Hancock Herbie Hancock
b.1940
piano 's Mwandishi ensemble—encapsulating the entire spectrum of jazz tradition in the process. Founded by trumpet player and musical director David Weiss David Weiss
b.1964
trumpet , the band features the stellar frontline of trumpeter Eddie Henderson Eddie Henderson
b.1940
trumpet , tenor saxophonist Billy Harper Billy Harper
b.1943
saxophone and alto saxophonist Craig Handy Craig Handy
b.1962
saxophone , supported by the top drawer rhythm section of pianist George Cables George Cables
b.1944
piano , bassist Cecil McBee Cecil McBee
b.1935
bass, acoustic and drummer Billy Hart Billy Hart
b.1940
drums .

Continuing a pattern established on its previous efforts, Cast the First Stone (Plus Loin Music, 2011) and Warriors (Jazz Legacy Productions, 2010), this vibrant session consists primarily of lesser-known originals drawn from its members' respective songbooks, illuminating their gifts as notable composers as well as intrepid improvisers. Opening with the muscular "Believe, For It Is True," from Harper's The Believer (Baystate, 1980), the ensemble quickly shifts gears from fervent swing to atmospheric, Milesian balladry on McBee's previously unrecorded "Temptation(s)." Their ability to elegantly segue between subtly divergent moods is pervasive throughout the date's nine selections, which range from the testimonial fanfare of Harper's "Quest" and the strident angularity of McBee's "Tight Squeeze" to the buoyant euphony of Hart's "Naaj" and the radiant lyricism of Cables' "But He Knows."

Revealing years of experience as both sidemen and bandleaders, The Cookers bring a sense of egoless conviction to the proceedings. Nowhere is their dedication to collaboration more explicit than the record's sole cover, a rhapsodic reading of Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter
b.1933
saxophone 's incendiary Jazz Messengers classic, "Free For All." Serving as the elastic foundation for a series of stratospheric solos (with Harper's turbulent tenor tirade a highlight), the members' keen sensitivity to the tune's formal constraints balances knowing restraint with impetuous expressionism, effectively summarizing the underlying sophistication that makes The Cookers much more than just another supergroup.

Track Listing: Believe, For It Is True; Temptation(s); Ebony Moonbeams; Free For All; Quest; But He Knows; Tight Squeeze; Naaj.

Personnel: Billy Harper: tenor saxophone; Eddie Henderson: trumpet; David Weiss: trumpet; Craig Handy: alto saxophone; George Cables: piano; Cecil McBee: bass; Billy Hart: drums.

Record Label: Motema Music