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James Brandon Lewis: For Mahalia With Love (Expanded Edition)
by Chris May
Not since Oded Tzur's Isabela (ECM, 2022) has a comparably exalted tenor saxophone-led album come along, not until For Mahalia, With Love. Vaultingly great jazz and deep solace for the soul, For Mahalia, With Love was released in late 2023. An annual cycle for albums of this quality is actually a sufficiency, for there is enough in both these, and those that preceded them, to last a listener a lifetime. File next to John Coltrane's Crescent (Impulse!, 1964) and Albert ...
read moreJames Brandon Lewis / Red Lily Quintet: For Mahalia, With Love
by Pat Youngspiel
Moving on chronologically from George Washington Carver--the African-American musician and influential agricultural scientist to whom James Brandon Lewis' previous recording with the Red Lily Quintet, Jesup Wagon (Tao Forms 2021), was dedicated--For Mahalia, With Love continues the pattern of paying homage to influential Afro-Americans who, in their own way, changed the course of history. This album's dedicatee is the early gospel queen Mahalia Jackson, whose seminal performances lit a spark in the saxophonist's grandmother; she in turn carried the spark ...
read moreJames Brandon Lewis: For Mahalia With Love
by Jerome Wilson
Tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis has been establishing himself in various contexts for the last few years, but his main focus lately has been on his Red Lily Quintet. Their first album, Jesup Wagon, (TAO Forms, 2021), was dedicated to African-American scientist, George Washington Carver. On their 2023 release, the group's music focuses on the work of the legendary gospel singer, Mahalia Jackson. This tribute takes the form of interpretations of familiar spirituals Jackson often sang. The gospel-derived ...
read moreJames Brandon Lewis Red Lily Quintet: For Mahalia With Love
by John Sharpe
The combination of James Brandon Lewis' impassioned tenor saxophone and songs associated with gospel singer and Civil Rights activist Mahalia Jackson is a match made in heaven. On For Mahalia, With Love by his Red Lily Quintet, Lewis retains the crack squad which made Jesup Wagon (Tao Forms, 2021) a success. Even though Lewis has a proven knack for crafting an affecting melody, he has chosen well as this repertoire has not only stood the test of time, but is ...
read moreWhit Dickey Quartet: Root Perspectives
by Mark Corroto
If it were possible to inhale an entire recording, Root Perspectives by drummer Whit Dickey's quartet might be the perfect delivery system. The music Dickey has put together comes as currents of wind, both a breeze and a gale. It is a drummer-led recording, but with any session this drummer leads (or plays in as sideman) his playing always complements without dominating the music. His new quartet includes pianist Matthew Shipp. Together, the pair have recorded dozens of ...
read moreKirk Knuffke: Gravity without Airs
by John Sharpe
The first evidence of cornetist Kirk Knuffke's hook up with Michael Bisio surfaced on the bassist's alluring Accortet (Relative Pitch, 2015), presaging a continuing string of further collaborations. So perhaps it was inevitable that another Bisio mainstay, pianist Matthew Shipp, would enter into the mix at some point. The surprise is that it is on a date under Knuffke's leadership, which has produced the double album Gravity Without Airs, with six cuts credited to the cornetist, while the other eight ...
read moreWhit Dickey Quartet: Astral Long Form: Staircase In Space
by Mark Corroto
As leader of the Whit Dickey Quartet, the drummer placed total faith in his bandmates for this studio session. The accompanying materials quote Dickey, “I asked them all to not think of time too much; I just wanted them to play, not to follow me or each other." Was that instruction made out of confidence or recklessness? One might say reckless if the lineup were other than the seasoned improvisers the leader assembled. Dickey might be best known ...
read moreMichael Bisio Quartet: MBefore
by Karl Ackermann
In the dark days of Covid and the lingering return to normality, only a handful of musicians managed to be prolific. Fewer remained relevant. Bassist & composer Michael Bisio is among the more productive artists, with half a dozen releases during the pandemic. Add to that collection MBefore, with the bassist's new namesake quartet. The album was recorded at Clubhouse Studio in Rhinebeck, New York, in March 2021, and includes liner notes by Matthew Shipp. The group comprised some top—if ...
read moreWhit Dickey / William Parker / Matthew Shipp: Village Mothership
by John Sharpe
Village Mothership presents a constellation of stars which first assembled some three decades ago. Although released on drummer Whit Dickey's Tao Forms imprint, on this 2020 studio date the trio, completed by bassist William Parker and pianist Matthew Shipp, manifests as a cooperative effort, unlike their first appearance on Circular Temple (Quinton, 1990) under Shipp's leadership. As well as being the pianist's trio of choice for several years, the threesome was also 75% of esteemed saxophonist David S. Ware's classic ...
read moreMatthew Shipp: Codebreaker
by Karl Ackermann
An intrinsic value in Matthew Shipp's music is his insight into the language of his chosen profession. The processes that have led to one hundred years of change in jazz are embedded in his compositions and improvisations. More than a dozen solo piano albums into his thirty-five-year recording career, Codebreaker, Shipp's latest such effort, furthers his exceptional amalgam of spontaneous improvisation and historical authenticity. More concise than many of the pianist's projects, the compact pieces serve to highlight the expressive ...
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