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Bruce Williams: Solid Perspective
by Jack Bowers
Alto saxophonist Bruce Williams, who doubles as composer, triples as arranger and quadruples as vocalist on one number, brings enviable creds to Solid Perspective, his fifth recording as leader of his quartet. Williams has worked steadily since leaving his native Washington, DC, for New York City, where he has remained for more than two decades, performing with groups large and small both stateside and around the world while polishing his resume as a respected educator and mentor to many rising ...
Continue ReadingRoy Hargrove: Bern
by Jack Kenny
Roy Hargrove was a unifying figure in jazz. He could move fluidly between straight-ahead bebop, hard bop, ballads, hip-hop, Afro-Cuban rhythms, and neo-soul without ever seeming to compromise his musical identity. This album, Bern, issued for the first time as a posthumous release, is a spectacular marker of a band playing at the highest level. A good band will always produce acceptable music; a great band will sometimes surpass even itself. One of the deepest pleasures in jazz ...
Continue ReadingRoy Hargrove: Bern
by Pierre Giroux
The appearance of Bern, a previously unreleased recording from May 4, 2000, at the International Jazzfestival in Bern, Switzerland, is the kind of archival find that reminds listeners how electrifying Roy Hargrove could be live. Released by Time Traveler Recordings on LP for Record Store Day, with CD and digital download versions to follow later. This set captures the late trumpeter in a moment of confident maturity, blending respect for tradition with the restless creativity that defined his career.
Continue ReadingSusanne Alt: Dark Horse
by Neil Duggan
In 2024, saxophonist Susanne Alt released Royalty For Real (Venus Tunes); the album was a homage to her mentor, the late trumpeter Roy Hargrove. It featured bassist Gerald Cannon and drummer Willie Jones III. Their seven-year collaboration in Hargrove's band brought a tight, intuitive groove to the session, complemented further by keyboardist James Hurt. From that same session comes Dark Horse, which features seven Alt compositions plus a Charlie Parker cover.The album owes its origins to Alt arriving ...
Continue ReadingKen Peplowski: Live at Mezzrow
by Jack Bowers
When one is diagnosed with multiple myeloma, as woodwind specialist Ken Peplowski was in June 2021, there are basically two alternatives: either accept the decision and throw in the towel or choose to fight and double down on doing what keeps you active and hopeful, in this case making beautiful music that swings. Obviously, as epitomized by the album Live at Mezzrow, Peplowski chose the latter path, and three years on has apparently won the battle, at least for now, ...
Continue ReadingKen Peplowski: Unheard Bird
by Jack Bowers
Even when the recording (in this case, two) is a classic--as, for example, Charlie Parker's memorable Bird with Strings (Mercury Records, 1950)--some songs that deserve better are necessarily left on the cutting-room floor. Some may see that as disappointing, while others--like reed specialist Ken Peplowski--embrace it as an opportunity. On Unheard Bird, Peplowski--with strings and a core quartet--presents a series of fourteen generally likable themes, most of which were destined for Parker's album but were somehow passed over, and three ...
Continue ReadingWillie Jones III Sextet at Jazz Alley
by Paul Rauch
Willie Jones III Sextet Jazz Alley Seattle, WA April 30, 2024 Arriving early to a club performance can give one perspective on what is about to take place. On a Tuesday evening in Seattle, with but a few patrons in the club among the hustle-and-bustle of house staff preparing for the evening, the set-up on stage was a prologue of the story that was to be told over a two-hour set. In particular, the drum ...
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