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Jeff "Tain" Watts: Bar Talk
by Paul West
Now here’s a guy (and a group) that can play: Jeff “Tain” Watts, who is quite simply one hell of a drummer, is an artist growing in popularity but building impressive skill and power after having served as a supporting player for the likes of such prominent jazz masters as pianist McCoy Tyner and guitarist George Benson. In the terrific Bar Talk , working with Ravi Coltrane (tenor), David Budway (piano), James Genus (bass), Paul Bollenback (guitar) and Gregoire Maret ...
Continue ReadingT.K. Blue: Eyes of the Elders
by James Nichols
Saxophonist and flutist T.K. Blue, the artist formerly known as Talib Kibwe, continues to evolve his own brand of post-bop on Eyes of the Elders, his second release as a leader for Arkadia Jazz. Despite the pretentious title, this album contains some worthy performances by a cadre of jazz veterans and young lions. Though T.K. Blue fits the ubiquitous description of the contemporary jazzer infatuated with jazz tradition, he actually spent years paying his dues with jazz veterans including Abdullah ...
Continue ReadingT.K. Blue: Eyes Of The Elders
by AAJ Staff
When he was the artist known as Talib Qadir Kibwe, T.K. Blue spent a good many years as Randy Weston's musical director, and he performed on some of Weston's now-classic recordings with Melba Liston like The Spirits Of Our Ancestors and Volcano Blues. Previously, Kibwe lived in Paris for eight years after a three-year association with Abdullah Ibrahim in the late 1970's. Journeying to Africa from his Paris base throughout the 1980's, Kibwe delved deeper and deeper into the spiritual ...
Continue ReadingJeff "Tain" Watts: Citizen Tain
by David Adler
In the mid 80s a single record got me hooked on straight-ahead jazz, and that record was Wynton Marsalis’s Black Codes from the Underground. The powerhouse drumming of Jeff “Tain" Watts was one of the elements that floored me. Watts remains a pillar of the current scene, playing in Branford Marsalis’s brilliant quartet and doing fine work for Michael Brecker, Kenny Garrett, Dave Holland, and others. Citizen Tain is his debut as a leader.The disc opens with “The ...
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