New Releases Spotlight: Week of August 29, 2016
This week in the Music Lounge, our music director Paul Abella reviews four releases from artists performing at this weekend’s Chicago Jazz Fest!
Hey, everyone! So, this week, I decided to do things just a little bit differently. With the Chicago Jazz Fest happening this week, I thought it would be fun to talk about some new(ish) releases from a few of the groups that will be performing this weekend at Millennium Park: Benny Golson, Eric Alexander, The Bad Plus and John Scofield!
Tenor legend Benny Golson’s latest, called Horizon Ahead is an excellent set. Joined by pianist Mike LeDonne, bassist Buster Williams and drummer Carl Allen, Golson’s new disc is clever, lightly funky and a great listen. Duke Ellington’s "Don’t Get Around Much Anymore" gets a solid groove, Lulu’s "Back in Town" is played as a saxophone bass duet that really works and a reworking of Benny’s tune "Domingo" proves that he can still turn up the heat. If we’re lucky, this is the same band that he’ll bring to the stage on Friday night (September 2nd), but, if he comes to town as a single, it’s still an awesome chance to see one of the last of the giants hold court at an amazing venue. Horizon Ahead proves that he’s still got it, too.
Eric Alexander has long since left Chicago, but he is inextricably linked to the Chicago Jazz scene. His latest, The Real Thing, is grooving as always. Alexander has some familiar faces with him, Harold Mabern on piano, Joe Farnsworth on drums, and John Webber on bass. As an added bonus, the one-and-only Pat Martino, appears on three tracks. The five of them are in the pocket, and swingin’ hard, especially on "The Real Thing," "Pure Pat" and "The Chief." Alexander and Mabern will be appearing on Saturday night (September 3rd) with a set that you won’t want to miss.
The Bad Plus have a brand new CD out called It’s Hard. While the Bad Plus have always been known for their pop covers, they’ve never tackled an entire album’s worth of them (well, close to an entire album’s worth – more on that in a second). On It’s Hard, they tackle a pop tune that’s already become a standard (Cyndi Lauper’s "Time After Time"), a country tune (Johnny Cash’s "I Walk the Line"), and some great songs from the 80’s and 90’s ("Don’t Dream It’s Over" has always been a favorite of mine, and I’m pretty sure Peter Gabriel would give a big thumbs up to their interpretation of "Games Without Frontiers"). The ringer here (Ornette Coleman’s "Broken Shadows") will give you a hint or two as to what their set on Saturday night will sound like, since that one appears on Ornette’s Science Fiction, the album that they’ll be playing (along with Tim Berne, Ron Miles and Sam Newsome) in tribute to Coleman.
One of my favorite recent releases is John Scofield’s reunion with Joe Lovano, Past Present. Even a year later, this one still resonates with me, and if their set on Sunday Night (September 4th) is as hot as their shows at SPACE were back in February…well, I still get chills thinking about that set. Seriously. Anyway, these two have lost none of the spark that made their old albums (What We Do, Time On My Hands and Meant To Be) so awesome. "Chap Dance" instantly evokes a rodeo in the same way that Aaron Copland’s "Hoedown" does. "Slinky," "Get Proud" and the title track all instantly sound like Scofield at his best. Pencil this set in for must sees this weekend, and if you haven’t checked out Past Present yet, put it on your short list of music to check out.
We’ll have more new music to check out soon in the music lounge. Til next time, Keep Your Ears Open!
