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Derrick Gardner & The Jazz Prophets: Pan Africa
by Mike Jurkovic
A big man with a big plan and a boisterous sextet at his back, trumpeter Derrick Gardner and his razor-fine Jazz Prophets unapologetically and unflinchingly blow the walls down with Pan Africa. Hyperbole? Not really. Just let Gardner and company free on Jackie McLean's hopscotching “Appointment In Ghana" (from Jackie's Bag, his first for Blue Note in 1960). And feel the fever, fervor, and drive. Long time Jazz Prophet's alto/tenor saxophonist Robert Dixon, and trombonist brother Vincent Gardner ...
Continue ReadingJon Gordon: Stranger Than Fiction
by Angelo Leonardi
Più noto come eccellente sax contralto e leader di un apprezzato quartetto, Jon Gordon torna a incidere un disco orchestrale per la ArtistShare, dopo l'album Evolution del lontano 2009. Registrato nel mezzo della pandemia, con tutte le difficoltà e restrizioni che sappiamo, il nuovo lavoro rinnova la collaborazione col trombonista e arrangiatore Alan Ferber che partecipa al progetto nel triplice ruolo di co-produttore, arrangiatore di un brano ("Havens") e solista di trombone. Il medio organico include anche il clarinetto basso ...
Continue ReadingJon Gordon: Stranger Than Fiction
by Hrayr Attarian
Saxophonist Jon Gordon's superb 13th release as a leader, Stranger Than Fiction, consists of 10 cinematic and captivating originals. Gordon leads a large ensemble of mostly Canadian musicians through his vibrantly textured compositions. The focus is more on dynamic interplay of different band members and orchestral segments than on individual expressions. There are, however, brilliantly virtuosic soloists who seamlessly emerge out of these vividly ebullient works making them even more electrifyingly alive. Opening with delightfully dissonant staccato woodwinds ...
Continue ReadingJon Gordon: Stranger Than Fiction
by Jack Bowers
New York-bred alto saxophonist Jon Gordon has come a long way since he was hailed as something of a prodigy in the mid-1980s and earned first place in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition in 1996. The music performed by Gordon's nonet on Stranger Than Fiction, we are told, “reflects [his] realization that reality takes twists and turns [that are] far more unpredictable than any author would dare write." There are indeed many twists and turns—most ...
Continue ReadingDerrick Gardner, Logan Richardson & Barry Harris
by Joe Dimino
We start with a track off of big band director's Derrick Gardner 2020 album Still I Rise. We add some Kansas City spice with Charlie Parker and stellar saxophonist Logan Richardson with music from his Afrofuturism (Whirlwind Recordings, 2021) release. We also take a look at the new work from Matt Moran, Adam Shulman and Grant Stewart. The 695th Episode comes to a close with the legendary Barry Harris. A good mix of the old and new on this latest ...
Continue ReadingDerrick Gardner & The Big dig! Band: Still I Rise
by Jack Bowers
Trumpeter Derrick Gardner, a Chicagoan who has performed around the world with a who's who of jazz luminaries from Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie and Frank Foster to Nancy Wilson, Tony Bennett and Harry Connick Jr., to name only a few, traveled to Winnipeg, Canada, to assemble and record his Big Dig! Band, several sizes removed from Gardner's sextet, The Jazz Prophets, a working group since it was formed in New York City in 1991. Gardner not only shines as trumpet ...
Continue ReadingDerrick Gardner & The Jazz Prophets + 2: Echoes of Ethnicity
by Woodrow Wilkins
Big band music is alive and well, even if presented by a not-so-big band. Derrick Gardner & The Jazz Prophets is a six-piece ensemble, supported by four additional players for Echoes of Ethnicity. The basic lineup consists of Gardner on trumpet and flugelhorn, brother Vincent on trombone, tenor saxophonist Rob Dixon, pianist Rick Roe, bassist Gerald Cannon and drummer Donald Edwards. Derrick Gardner has led The Jazz Prophets since its inception in 1991 and counts among his influences ...
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