William Parker - Mass For The Healing Of The World

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 2003
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 70:53
Size: 163,6 MB
Art: Front

( 0:31)  1. Invocation
(13:22)  2. First Reading (dawn Song)
( 8:46)  3. Hallelujah
( 5:44)  4. Mysticism
(13:01)  5. Response (muezzin S Call)
(6:55) 6. Second Reading (cathedral In The Mountains)
( 8:36)  7. Willows (can You Give Me Back My Life)
(13:55)  8. Cantos (love God)

Mass for the Healing of the World provides instant nostalgia in the quick change world of modern jazz. Built around William Parker's luminous and now defunct In Order To Survive band, the disc delivers an encore taste of Cooper-Moore's big handed piano stylings and Susie Ibarra's pandemic percussion with Parker's subharmonic depth charges. Old friends Rob Brown and Roy Campbell, Jr. join tenor titan Assif Tshar and others to create this lively version of the Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra. The Mass begins with an Invocation read by Alex Lodico in Italian. Portentously unfolding with Dave Hofstra's tuba and Ibarra's tympani, "First Reading (Dawn Song)" sets the tone invoking awe of the sacred. Cooper-Moore's broken glass fills keep the rapture grounded. The orchestra's tone colors recall serial Stravinsky as it heats up and stretches. Suddenly, Cooper-Moore uses low stately chords to set up Aleta Hayes' singing of Parker's inspirational lyric. He slips his accompanist's leash to tear into the opening of "Hallelujah." Dave Sewelson's mild baritone sax blows overwhelmed by a piano blizzard. As the rhythm section threatens to fly off the stage, it parts to reveal Parker, the driving heat at the core, firing on all pistons. A spacious opening of tiered fanfares prepares "Mysticism," then a heavy lockstep rhythm provides foundation for Chris Jonas' soaring, roiling soprano, Cooper-Moore breaking stride with shattering chord shards. Altered soprano and processed trombone get "Response (Muezzin's Call)" going, then space is replaced by swing as the rhythm section plays it fairly straight. Tshar blows some torrid tenor and soon enough Brown scorches the stage. Little Huey rolls and blares as Moore/Parker/Ibarra/Brown burn into the Italian night. Lewis Barnes' trumpet dances wildly with the ecstatic crew. "Second Reading (Cathedral in the Mountains)" sets a down blue groove in motion for Campbell to decorate. When Lodico returns with trombone, Campbell peels off sheets of brass a la Don Cherry. An emotional ballad, "Willows (Can you Give Me Back My Life)" has Darryl Foster's thoughtful soprano navigating the minors. Richard Rodriguez soulfully sweeps through on trumpet. "Cantos (Love God)" sounds like an outtake from the Peach Orchard, with its determined stride. Brown and Campbell restlessly wrestle through the rigid structure with unstoppable power. One wonders how many recorded Little Huey performances languish in the can. This one documents a night six years ago that is both timeless and a time capsule. Like all Little Huey projects, all manner of musics emanate from the assembled musicians, all the musics tinted blue. ~ REX BUTTERS https://www.allaboutjazz.com/mass-for-the-healing-of-the-world-william-parker-black-saint-review-by-rex-butters.php

Personnel: William Parker, bass, pocket trumpet; Rob Brown, Marco Eneidi, alto sax; Chris Jonas, soprano sax; Darryl Foster, tenor and soprano sax; Assif Tshar, tenor sax, bass clarinet; Dave Sewelson, baritone sax; Alex Lodico, Masaiko Kono, trombone; Roy Campbell, Lewis Barnes, Richard Rodriguez, trumpet; Dave Hofstra, tuba; Cooper Moore, piano; Susie Ibarra, drums, tympani; Aleta Heyes, vocals.

Mass For The Healing Of The World

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Heather Bennett - All Through The Night

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:55
Size: 133,1 MB
Art: Front

(5:24)  1. All Through The Night
(6:18)  2. Mary
(4:31)  3. Blues Etude
(5:04)  4. Someday You'll Be Sorry
(5:35)  5. Dreamer
(7:04)  6. Nature Boy
(3:47)  7. When It's Sleepytime Down South
(5:40)  8. Lost Girl
(6:54)  9. All My Loving
(4:11) 10. Boo-Bop
(2:22) 11. Search For Peace

To listen to the Pianist, Composer, Singer Heather Bennett is to browse through a well-assorted choice of Straight-Ahead transformed for modern times. Echos of Hard-Bop, Bebop, Post-Bop, Originals, modern interpretations of Pop Numbers... With a definite knowledge of tradition, her compositions impressively present an intelligent path from the present to the future of Jazz through her expressive, powerful, but also lyrical piano playing. Heather Bennett, daughter of a classical pianist, majored in music in Texas and North Carolina (Magna cum Laude in Jazz-Performance) and has lived in the "Big Apple" since 1997 where she stays quite active in numerous musical projects. There she initiated, among other things, a female quintet with bassist Erin Wright, worked with muscians like Ingrid Jensen, Ed Schuller, Georg Schuller, Randy Brecker, Ari Hoenig and constantly plays with her groups in the NYC Jazz Clubs. Recently her 4th and latest CD "Suite Talk" appeared with, among others, Drummer Billy Hart and Bassist Rufus Reid. https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/hbennett2

Personnel:  Heather Bennett - Piano, Billy Heart - Drum, Dennis Irwin - Bass, Dave Pietro - Alto Sax

All Through The Night

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Christian Sands - Facing Dragons

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:30
Size: 143,8 MB
Art: Front

(6:11)  1. Rebel Music
(7:17)  2. Fight for Freedom
(7:22)  3. Yesterday
(8:26)  4. Sangueo Soul
(7:29)  5. Sunday Mornings
(8:44)  6. Frankenstein
(7:12)  7. Her Song
(5:40)  8. Samba de Vela
(4:07)  9. Rhodes to Meditation

Save for a busy, perhaps too restrained take on The Beatles' "Yesterday" and the predictable South American rhythm driven "Sangueo Soul," Facing Dragons is pianist Christian Sands third powerhouse release in a shade over two years. Crisply performed by his core trio, bassist Yasushi Nakamura and the untiring Jerome Jennings on drums, Facing Dragons may not explode out at you like last year's Reach, his debut as a leader, or the concussive live energy that spilled over onto the EP Reach Further, but it certainly ups the ante and gives plenty of fuel to those who argue that Sands is the leading pianist of his generation. Mentored by Dr. Billy Taylor as a teen and recently named creative ambassador to The Erroll Garner Project, Sands, unbridled by the past and hugely aware of all the music around him, brings it all. Colored with clusters of block chords and a bright melody, "Rebel Music," the dynamic and nimble opener, finds the trio locked in synch and quickly setting the tone. Over a tumbling churn, saxophonist Marcus Strickland's deep tone holds front and center until trumpeter Keyon Harold joins the conversation. "Sunday Mornings" features an organic duet with guitarist Caio Afune and a gospel to reggae slide beat that's just exquisite to hear. Jennings is integral here, carrying the tune with a broad, bouncing strut.  "Her Song" is a lyrical, floating dialog between pianist and guitarist, yet Nakamura's resonant suppleness is the central key to the whole affair. "Frankenstein" with its shifts and subtleties may very well call to mind Chick Corea or Herbie Hancock, but there is no imitation going on here. To close the disc, Sands wanders his on Fender Rhodes for the spacey "Rhodes To Mediation" that some might find indulgent, but the recommendation is to just float along with it. ~ MIKE JURKOVIC https://www.allaboutjazz.com/facing-dragons-christian-sands-mack-avenue-records-review-by-mike-jurkovic.php

Personnel: Christian Sands: piano, Fender Rhodes; Caio Afune: guitar; Keyon Harrold: trumpet; Jerome Jennings: drums; Yasushi Nakamura: bass; Roberto Quintero, Cristian Rivera: percussion; Marcus Strickland: saxophone.

Facing Dragons

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