T. K. Blue: Planet Bluu

Is T.K. Blue the coolest name for a jazz artist? Only "Thelonious Monk" competes in the category. Blue (aka Talib Kibue) a New Yorker of Trinidad and Jamaican descent who boasts a wide-ranging career—involvements with saxophonist Sam Rivers and pianist Randy Weston (he plays on Weston's 1991, Verve Records masterpiece, The Spirits Of Our Ancestors)—showcases a bubbling with life African vibe on his 2024 release, Planet Bluu,.

In his liner notes, Blue says: "Planet Bluu lies just beyond the realm of our imagination. It's a dream so fragile that if you whisper it presence, this magnanimous world might vanish into thin air..."

Or it could flow from the sound system speakers.

The conjuring of this utopian world brings the ruminations of saxophonist Wayne Shorter's work to mind, and also pianist Chick Corea's, a pair Blue's like-minded musician mates who have/had a way of leaving Earth in search of inspiration.''

Given the theme, Planet Bluu plays out as a surprisingly Earthbound work—celestial kalimba aside—with inspiring sounds that seem to owe a debt to Hugh Masakela, and certainly to Blue's mentor Randy Weston. The leader's quintet (with occasional guest spots) included Wallace Roney Jr on trumpet, Davis Whitfield on piano, bassist Dishan Harper on bass and Orion Turre on drums.

Blue plays alto and soprano saxophones, flute, kalimba, and the African hand piano—an instrument that supplies an ageless, chiming clink-clank rhythmic backdrop that gives credence (in conjunction with the work of the entire band) to the assertion that the expansive continent of the southern hemisphere just might have evolved into a sort of "Planet Blue" if not for European conquest and defilement.

"The Hue of Bluu" opens the set on an airy note. After a unison horn statement, Wallace Roney, Jr. blows a soaring solo that makes his father— Wallace Roney (1960—2020 —proud. Blue blows and assertive soprano sax solo on the hard-driving "Valley of the Blue Rose, and the title tune drifts in on a high cloud. Steve Turre, the trombonist, joins the mix, giving some beef to the sound.

"Sky Bluu Part 1" opens with the kalimba, before the band comes in, sounding spiritual-inspired and Zen-peaceful. "Chessman's Delight," from the Randy Weston songbook, is a scorcher, bringing alto saxophonist Jackie McLean to mind, with the leader tearing it up on alto sax.

The set closes on "The Blue Sea of Our Tomorrow," a turbulent and optimistically relentless tune—a beautifully barn-burning six-minute slice of time.