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Harold Mabern: The Iron Man: Live At Smoke
by Mike Jurkovic
Hard-bopping pianist Harold Mabern may have made his recording debut in 1959 with drummer Walter Perkins' quintet and led his first session in 1968 for Blue Note on the soulful A Few Miles From Memphis but here he is, at 82, playing with straight-ahead, youthful joie de vivre on the story telling, life affirming, two-disc set The Iron Man: Live at Smoke. Working as hard as ever with his long standing trio of tenor saxophonist and former student ...
Continue ReadingDavid Hazeltine and Mike Kaplan: Two Perspectives On Cedar Walton
by David A. Orthmann
Years ago, I often went to a club in which a guest soloist was coupled with the house rhythm section. At one point in nearly every opening set, in an effort to find some common ground, the leader called Cedar Walton's “Bolivia." Sitting and waiting in anticipation for the theme to be played became an important part of witnessing each performance. Regardless of who was on the bandstand, “Bolivia" never failed to bring out the best in everyone.
Continue ReadingCedar Walton: One Flight Down
by Joel Roberts
Cedar Walton has been a first-call hard bop pianist for almost as long as there's been hard-bop. In a splendid, though often underappreciated, career spanning six decades, he's had notable stints in the bands of giants like JJ Johnson, Lee Morgan, Art Farmer and Art Blakey, while also leading well-respected groups of his own. Now, at seventy-two, he's one of the elder statesmen of the hard-bop genre and one of the true living legends of jazz piano. ...
Continue ReadingAnthony Wonsey: The Thang
by Mark F. Turner
Anthony Wonsey's latest disc finds the pianist coming into his own creative voice. Wonsey has been at the center of some very notable works over the past few years, including recordings by trumpeter Nicholas Payton, songstress Carmen Lundy and others. The Thang, his fifth disc as a leader, continues in the straight-ahead format of his label, Sharp Nine Records. While others artists his age are dabbling in freer modes, make no mistake that Wonsey is a skilled artisan who plays ...
Continue ReadingGreg Skaff: Ellington Boulevard
by John Kelman
Recording studios can be cold and uninviting places. Without the ambience of a live room and an eager audience, some artists are challenged to capture the fire and the energy that results from the feedback of a receptive group of listeners. As wonderful as many studio recordings are, they don't always succeed in portraying what the group is really about. Watching Hudson Music's video of The Peter Erskine Trio Live at Jazz Baltica versus any of the trio's ECM recordings ...
Continue ReadingJoe Farnsworth: It's Prime Time
by Terrell Kent Holmes
It's Prime Time , by drummer Joe Farnsworth, is an inspired blend of past and present, with a lineup of young lions roaring in the presence of several pantheon-dwelling vets. Their combined talents give this disc, a nod to the hard bop period of the '50s and '60s, a sound that is at once nostalgic and timeless. The opener, “Sweet Poppa," begins with Farnsworth drumming a pedal point intro, followed by tenor man Eric Alexander, who builds a ...
Continue ReadingJoe Farnsworth: It's Prime Time
by C. Michael Bailey
Veteran drummer Joe Farnsworth figuratively steps from behind his trap kit to lead some of the musicians for whom he has served as rhythm master in the past fifteen years. Farnsworth has attracted much attention from both the old guard and young Turks alike. The former is represented by Harold Mabern, Benny Golson, Curtis Fuller, and Ron Carter; the latter by Eric Alexander, David Hazeltine, and Jim Rotondi. With a group like this, it is a bit hard to know ...
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