Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Shirazette Tinnin: Humility: Purity of My Soul

3

Shirazette Tinnin: Humility: Purity of My Soul

By

View read count
Shirazette Tinnin: Humility: Purity of My Soul
Drummer Shirazette Tinnin's debut album Humility: Purity of My Soul is a solid and inventive soul-jazz date that showcases several facets of her talent. In addition to Tinnin's passionate yet subtle and sophisticated handling of her kit the disc demonstrates her compositional creativity and her deft leadership.

Tinnin's boldly visceral beats create the stimulating background on saxophonist Eddie Harris' "Freedom Jazz Dance." Tenorist Camille Thurman's thrilling improvisation brings a darkly hued mysticism to the piece while pianist Rachel Eckroth's Nord keyboard infuses it with an earthy and soulful groove. The remarkable spontaneous ensemble play adds another intriguing aspect to the classic.

Tinnin is not out to show off acrobatics or the speed of her sticks or how many surfaces she can strike at once. She is concerned more with timber, dynamics and harmony. When the spotlight is on her, however, she goes from exquisitely understated and intricate percussing to explosive and exhilarating soloing.

The former style is heard on the effervescent Bossa-esque "The Warmest Season" with its electrifying, urgently driving rhythms that bassist Amanda Ruzza, Tinnin, Eckroth and percussionist Jhair Sala lay down. The delightful original also features guitarist Seth Johnson's agile, muscular string work and Angola native, singer Afrikkanitha's sensual vocals.

The best example of the latter demonstration of Tinnin's instrumentalism is on another of her own originals, the infectious, tightly swinging "Inner Frustration." Johnson's blistering guitar pirouettes over Eckroth's echoing chords and bassist Tom DiCarlo's deep reverberations before Tinnin's concluding unaccompanied play.

Tinnin's skills as a leader are impressive as she maintains a thematic unity through out the album with a rotating cast of side musicians. On the funky "My Human Condition" she creates a cinematic ambience by interweaving distinct layers of sound. Eckroth and bassist Martell Akade's simmering electric rhythms form a lattice through which pianist Willerm Delisfort's hypnotic acoustic refrains ring brightly. Over these contrasting and complementary sonic currents, alto saxophonist Tia Fuller buoyant and serpentine tone soars in an airy acerbic extemporization.

In comparison the sparse, deceptively simple tune "God's Lullaby," sublime and contemplative brims with a lilting beauty. Tinnin's gentle thrums sparkle and Eckroth's notes shimmer as bassist Mimi Jones's creates a gorgeously haunting ambience with her bowing.

Tinnin's freshman release is a cohesive work of an accomplished artist. Neither self- indulgent nor reticently discreet Tinnin strikes the right balance as a bandleader, composer and an instrumentalist. This intriguing record certainly whets the appetite for more to come from this exciting musician.

Track Listing

Her Power Locs; Passion Dance; God’s Lullaby; The Warmest Season; Jazzmine; Freedom Jazz Dance; Aunt Sissy; My Human Condition; Inner Frustration.

Personnel

Shirazette Tinnin: drums; Tom DiCarlo: bass (1, 2, 5, 9); Willerm Delisfort: piano (1, 2, 3, 6, 8); Rachel Eckroth: piano (4, 7, 9), Nord Keyboard (1, 5, 6, 8); Camille Thurman: tenor saxophone (1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9), vocals (5); Seth Johnson: guitar (4, 6, 8, 9); Jhair Sala: percussion (1, 4, 6); Mimi Jones: bass (3, 6, 7); Afrikkanitha: vocals (4); Martell Akade: electric bass (8); Tia Fuller: alto saxophone (8); Amanda Ruzza: electric bass (4).

Album information

Title: Humility: Purity of My Soul | Year Released: 2014 | Record Label: Hot Tone Music

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

Near

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.