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James Brandon Lewis / Chad Taylor: Live In Willisau
This 66-minute performance at the 2019 Jazz Festival Willisau kicks off with "Twenty Four" a crafty recalculation of John Coltrane's "26-2." The duo doesn't so much cover Trane's 1960 composition as create a vortex of sound and energy with pieces and parts of the original flying off at odd angles. They use the same formula for "Imprints," Coltrane's "Impressions" reimagined. Like their original studio effort, the pair eschew mimicry without dishonoring the original music. "Radiance" the duo's take on "Seraphic Light" from Stellar Regions could be labeled "Stellar Regions 2.0." Taylor isn't quite channeling Rashied Ali as he is gathering together a legacy from Elvin Jones to Billy Higgins and Hamid Drake. Duke Ellington's "Come Sunday" opens with Taylor's thumb piano creating a rainforest for Lewis to gently tread. Dewey Redman and Ed Blackwell performed "Willisee" at this same festival in 1980 (Red And Black In Willisau (Black Saint, 1985)). Lewis and Taylor recreate the same spirit and energy, even surprising themselves at the heights they have scaled. The encore, "Under/Over the Rainbow," takes us home with reassuring brushwork and an empty-the-tanks sound that leaves the crowd satisfied.
Track Listing
Twenty Four; Radiance; Matape; Come Sunday; Imprints; Watakushi No Sekai; With Sorrow Lonnie; Willisee; Under/Over the Rainbow.
Personnel
James Brandon Lewis
saxophone, tenor
Chad Taylor
drumsAlbum information
Title: Live In Willisau | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: Intakt Records
About James Brandon Lewis
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