Marcus Printup - Desire

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 70:49
Size: 162,4 MB
Art: Front

(8:02)  1. Along the Way
(9:58)  2. El Gato Travieso
(7:51)  3. Desire
(5:46)  4. One Note Samba
(7:29)  5. Visions
(2:33)  6. Melancholia
(7:16)  7. I Can't Help It
(6:13)  8. Bee Dub Blues
(7:37)  9. Rebirth
(7:59) 10. You've Got a Friend

Few husbands relish the sound of their wives harping on in the background but not, I suspect, Mr Marcus Printup, an ace trumpet player, whose wife is an equally accomplished musician in her own right, a classically trained harpist endowed with a virtuoso talent. At first sight the idea of teaming jazz trumpet with harp might seem like something of a novelty. It certainly isn’t common but utilising the harp in a jazz context isn’t without precedent ; one remembers the `Les Jazz Modes` group fronted by French horn player, Julius Watkins and tenor saxist , Charlie Rouse, which intelligently employed the talent of harpist Janet Putman to add ensemble colour. Then there were the recordings made by Dorothy Ashby in which the harp took a front line role in the exposition of both melody and improvisational development.  Notwithstanding these pioneering efforts the harp will never be a mainline jazz instrument, unlike other stringed instruments namely the violin and cello it appears to lack the ability to effect chordal dissonances which are so importance in the tension building process of jazz improvisation. Nevertheless, Mrs Printup makes a convincing case for the harp’s utilisation in this context for no other reason than the smouldering intensity she brings to the deliverance of the seductive themes presented in this superb recording.

Most of the tunes have a Latin-American ambience which benefit from the flamenco like cascades of sound initiated by the harp as well as the lute like harmonies which back the forthright sound of Mr Printup’s trumpet which comes over with the subtlety and power of a latter day Roy Eldridge, in both open and muted formats. Some of these are compositions by Mr and Mrs  but there is also a delicious and memorable version on that familiar Jobim classic, `One Note Samba`. My personal favourites are covers of two Stevie Wonder favourites: `Visions` and `I Can’t Help It` and a wonderful rendition of Carol King’s `You’ve Got a Friend`. Having extolled the virtues of Mrs Printup’s contribution I’m slightly ashamed to say that the track that most arrested my attention is a duet between Marcus and his bassist, Ben Williams, which is a blues of timeless integrity that links all the verities of jazz expression from Armstrong to the young giants of the contemporary pantheon in which Marcus Printup deserves a prominent place.

~ Euan Dixon  http://www.jazzviews.net/marcus-printup---desire.html

Personnel:  Marcus Printup (trumpet);  Riza Printup (harp);  Ben Williams (bass);  E.J. Strickland (drums)

Desire

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