Jazz Articles about Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman at SFJAZZ

by Harry S. Pariser
February 8, 2020

Harriet Tubman SFJAZZ San Francisco, CA January 23, 2020 The electric bass, electric guitar and drum trio Harriet Tubman stands apart in the music world. As guitarist Brandon Ross notes, they are electrified yet based on spiritual influences such as the late Alice Coltrane, the late John Coltrane's wife who ran an ashram that Ross had the fortune to visit. Going strong since 1998, the group has found it difficult to find acceptance and, sometimes, ...

Mark F. Turner's Best Releases Of 2017

by Mark F. Turner
January 3, 2018

In a year filled with loss, uncertainty and numerous challenges, the following releases by these creative and talented artists repeatedly moved me while bringing something fresh to my ears. No matter what critics or doubters say, the music lives on and is as strong as ever; always colored by its diversity. Harriet Tubman Araminta (Sunnyside) Nicholas Payton Afro-Caribbean Mixtape (Paytone Records) Gerald Clayton ...

Harriet Tubman: Araminta

by Mark F. Turner
October 4, 2017

Named after the iconic American heroine: escaped slave, abolitionist and humanitarian Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross circa 1822); the extraordinary New York based trio of guitarist Brandon Ross, bassist Melvin Gibbs and drummer JT Lewis have performed together for over 20 years yet have only released three prior recordings: I am a Man (Knitting Factory, 1998), Prototype (Avant Records, 2000) and the double trio recording Ascension (Sunnyside Records, 2011) with trumpeter Ron Miles and two turntablists: DJ Logic and DJ ...

Harriet Tubman: Ascension

by Raul d'Gama Rose
April 26, 2011

The raison d'être for the band, Harriet Tubman, is an almost aching musical yearning for a complete freedom. It is a freedom from genre and certainly on Ascension, complete freedom from style as well as style. This what the 20th Century Spanish poet and playwright, Federico Garcia-Lorca described as the heart of duende, a holistic alternative to style and mere virtuosity, seeking an elevated level of delving into the depths of the soul so that the music dilates the mind's ...

Harriet Tubman: Ascension

by Mark Corroto
April 10, 2011

It has been forty-six years since John Coltrane took his expanded ensemble into a studio to record Ascension (Impulse!, 1965), and many believe the jazz world has yet to come to grips with its significance and meaning. It has only been eleven years since the power trio Harriet Tubman, expanded into the Harriet Tubman Double Trio, rendered its interpretation of Ascension. Formed in 1998, the Harriet Tubman trio picks up where the short-lived supergroup Power Tools (Bill Frisell, ...

Harriet Tubman: Prototype

by Mark Corroto
November 1, 2000

The second ‘strange meeting’ between the members of the thumping power trio known as Harriet Tubman was recorded live in New York, Finland, and The Netherlands. Why bassist Melvin Gibbs choose to reincarnate his previous band Power Tools can be answered by noting the sales of powered amps and woofers over the past decade. Gibbs, guitarist Bill Frisell, and drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson conspired in the late 1980s to play noisy loud power-jazz. Gibbs learned it from Sonny Sharrock, played ...

Harriet Tubman: I Am A Man

by Glenn Astarita
December 1, 1998

Harriet Tubman is: Brandon Ross guitar; Melvin Gibbs bass and J.T. Lewis drums. Titled: “I Am A Man”, this reviewer will deviate from researching any hidden agenda or subliminal message; however, I can ascertain without reservation that these three “NYC Downtown Scene” veterans have produced an enthusiastic outing which traverses many frontiers.

“Freedom of Expression” is an applied concept put forth within the infamous NYC Downtown Scene. In many instances infusions of punk rock-jazz-chamber-world music and so forth materialize in ...