Archive for the ‘Kenny Barron’ Category
Ernie Watts: The Long Road Home (1996 – JVC XRCD)
Grammy winning saxophonist Ernie Watts re-releases his third and final audiophile XRCD (extended resolution) via his own Flying Dolphin Records. “The Long Road Home reflects my voyage back to the music that inspires me,” says Watts. “When doubt and darkness engulf us, the memory of our essence begins to call and we begin our journey back home.” Recorded in New York, Watts surrounds himself with superb players; Kenny Barron (piano), Mark Whitfield (guitar) and Reggie Workman (upright bass). Carmen Lundy lends evocative vocals on two tracks. Recorded without drums, the sessions have a mellow, bluesy feel. The disc contains the Charles Mingus classics âGoodbye Pork Pie Hatâ and âNostalgia In Times Square,â along with “Willow Weep For Me” and “Lover Man” Watts’ originals “River of Light” and the title track further define his respect for the jazz idiom. His composition âBirdâs Ideaâ pays tribute to the great Charlie Parker.
Ernie Watts started his musical journey at age 13 when he first picked up a saxophone. He won a scholarship to the Wilmington Music School in Delaware, where he studied classical music and started to learn jazz by ear, often falling asleep at night listening to a stack of Coltrane records. Although he would enroll briefly at West Chester University in music education, he soon won a Downbeat Scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston, renowned for jazz.
With 18 solo recordings to his credit and two Grammy Awards, he has established himself as one of the most prolific saxophone players on the music scene.
http://www.tradebit.com
1. Lover Man
8. Willow Weep for Me
09. Moonlight and Shadows
Ernie Watts (Ten Sax)
Kenny Barron (Piano)
Reggie Workman (Bass)
Mark Whitfield (Guitar) – 1,2,5,7
Carmen Lundy (Vocals) – 2,8
Release Date: Mar 13, 2007 – Label: JVC XRCD
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Listen for Once, Delete, then Buy: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
Gary Bartz – There Goes The Neighborhood (1990 – Candid Records)
Alto saxophonist Gary Bartz attended the Juilliard Conservatory of Music and became a member of Charles Mingus’ Jazz Workshop from 1962-1964 where he worked with Eric Dolphy and encountered McCoy Tyner for the first time. He also began gigging as a sideman in the mid-’60s with Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach, and later as a member of Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers. His recording debut was on Blakey’s Soul Finger album. Tyner formed his famed Expansions band in 1968 with Bartz on alto. In addition, Bartz also formed his own bands at this time and recorded a trio of albums for Milestone, and continued to tour with Max Roach’s band. In 1970, Miles Davis hired Bartz and featured him as a soloist on the Live-Evil recording. Bartz formed the Ntu Troop that year as well, an ensemble that fused soul and funk, African folk music, hard bop, and vanguard jazz into a vibrant whole. Among the group’s four recordings from 1970-1973, Harlem Bush Music: Taifa and Juju Street Songs have proved influential with soul jazzers, and in hip-hop and DJ circles as well. From 1973-1975 Bartz was on a roll, issuing I’ve Known Rivers and Other Bodies, Music Is My Sanctuary, Home, and Another Earth, all stellar outings. He meandered for most of the 1980s, coming back in 1988 with Reflections on Monk. Since that time, Bartz has continued making records of quiet intensity and lyrical power — notably Red & Orange Poems in 1995 — and has with become one of the finest if under-noticed alto players of his generation.
his CD is a living document of the musicianship of Gary Bartz who continues to be one of the most articulate and arresting saxophone voices. The title of the album has special significance for the alto saxophonist. He wanted to make a statement not mere
Although he dismissed notions about a comeback, this ’90 album was the triumphant, exuberant vehicle Gary Bartz hadn’t made in quite a while. His rippling solos and dominant presence were welcome for fans who wondered if he had squandered the potential he’d shown in the ’60s
Thom Jurek
Original Release Date: 1990 – Label: Candid Records
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Across Rhythm 