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Alex Harding, Lucian Ban: Blutopia
by Neri Pollastri
Il pianista Lucian Ban e il sassofonista baritono Alex Harding, assidui collaboratori dalla fine degli anni Novanta, riuniscono qui un quintetto di stelle per interpretare una musica assai diversificata di brano in brano e la cui sintesi è forse espressa da una citazione del filosofo Ibn Al-Arabi riportata nel libretto, la quale celebra il movimento quale origine della vita ed elemento che rende impossibile qualsiasi stasi nel mondo. Accanto ai due co-leader, la formazione vede il violista Mat ...
Continue ReadingKahil El'Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble: Open Me: A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit
by Chris May
The first few bars of Open Me: A Higher Consciousness Of Sound And Spirit promise the listener is in for a treat. Corey Wilkes' muted trumpet plays Miles Davis' “All Blues" counterpointed by Alex Harding's rugged baritone saxophone and Kahil El'Zabar's ankle bells and kalimba. Here is Ethnic Heritage Ensemble in all its enchanting bare-bones singularity, barely a year since the release of the masterpiece Spirit Gatherer: A Tribute To Don Cherry (Spiritmuse). Eighty minutes later, the ...
Continue ReadingPlanet D Nonet: Blues to Be There
by Jack Bowers
The subtitle of Blues to be There, the Detroit-based Planet D Nonet's latest album (recorded in June and July 2022), is “A Salute to Duke Ellington." As with almost any bow to the Duke, it encompasses a healthy measure of Billy Strayhorn as well. Ellington wrote or co-wrote thirteen of the album's persuasive numbers, Strayhorn five including the classics “Take the 'A' Train" and “U.M.M.G." As for Ellington, he is represented almost exclusively by lesser-known compositions, most ...
Continue ReadingKahil El'Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble: Spirit Gatherer
by Chris May
Anyone who was chair of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians for a decade knows a thing or two about keeping a group of independently minded artists focused on a common goal. Drummer and percussionist Kahil El'Zabar continues to demonstrate that with his Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, an acoustic, improvising trio with an African foundation that has been recording since 1981. Most of the musicians who have passed through the group have been longtime members. The 2023 lineup comprises ...
Continue ReadingThe Paxton / Spangler Septet: Ugqozi
by Chris May
Ugqozi is a celebration of modern, urban African music, especially that from South Africa, with which co-leaders trombonist John “Tbone" Paxton and percussionist RJ Spangler have been in love for decades. It is also an affirmation of the vibrant Detroit scene of which the multi-generational Paxton / Spangler Septet is a part. Actually, the band is not a septet. Depending on whether one goes by the sleeve credits or the press release, it is either an octet ...
Continue ReadingAlex Harding, Lucian Ban: Dark Blue
by Neri Pollastri
Duo estremamente longevo questo tra il pianista di origini rumene Lucian Ban e il sassofonista di Detroit Alex Harding, questo Dark Blue è il loro quarto album, ma esce a undici anni dal precedente. E la loro intesa è tangibile lungo tutto l'arco del programma, che include solo brani originali (sei di Harding e cinque di Ban) e che ricorda, per intima concentrazione, storici duetto quali quelli di Steve Lacy e Mal Waldron o di Dollar Brand e Archie Shepp. ...
Continue ReadingAlex Harding - Lucian Ban: Dark Blue
by Glenn Astarita
Lucian Ban (piano) and Alex Harding (woodwinds) have performed and recorded together for 20-years besides their prominent activities within global progressive jazz and improvisational circles. The universal language of jazz is conveyed here as Detroit-reared Harding and the Romanian born pianist gel to a variety of tempos amid solstice, reflective sentiment, off-centered blues balladry and bouncy grooves. Toss in some lyrically resplendent tapestries of sound and a crystalline audio production, you are liable to become entranced by the duo's moody ...
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