December round-up

Terence Blanchard was one of the foremost sharp-suited young lions of the 1980s’ Hard Bop renaissance, spent two spells with Art Blakey and formed a still-running 30-year artistic partnership with film director Spike Lee. Absence, with his band the E-collective and the Turtle Island Quartet, comprises tunes written or inspired by Wayne Shorter, the influential tenor player whose main legacy may turn out to be his approach to composition, tightly-written despite harmonic progressions that at first seem to meander unpredictably. Blanchard and colleagues capture Shorter’s essence well, not to mention nodding to classics including Beethoven. (Blue Note LP: 3844255; CD: 3844264) ★★★★

Alto-saxophonist Kenny

Garrett, another Blakey alumnus, made his main stir after joining Miles Davis in 1986, recording some well-regarded albums of his own during the same period. For Sounds from the Ancestors he cites ‘sounds I remembered growing up, that lift your spirit like John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On and the spiritual side of the church.’ His regular quintet forms the core, with guests on most tracks. Rhythms from various cultures/ traditions are strongly represented, but melody is not neglected and Garrett’s fine lyrical solo on ‘It’s Time to Come Home’ heralds similarly pleasing contributions throughout. (Mack Avenue MAC 1180) ★★★★

I was beguiled by Love and Liberation, the 2019 album by the award-winning Jazzmeia Horn. For Dear Love she has written charts for Noble Force, a 15-piece band augmented by a string quartet here and there. Her voice sometimes manages to evoke Erykah Badu and Sarah Vaughan simultaneously, and her songs and arrangements skilfully embrace classic ’50s/’60s jazz styles (with even a hint of Neal Hefti at one point), scat, soul and contemporary genres, but without ever appearing strained, contrived or derivative. She rarely indulges in acrobatics but proves on ‘Lover Come Back’ that she can do so effectively. (Concord ELR001) ★★★★

Pianist Hiromi’s Silver Lining Suite comprises four movements for piano and string quartet. Five further tracks include expanded versions of two pieces from One Minute Portraits, duets with various artists made for video. Hiromi brings her trademark virtuosic intensity to the scoring for the strings, but there is also an almost pastoral lyricism in several passages. The interplay and integration of quartet and piano is accomplished, the quartet plays with conviction and spirit, and Hiromi is on top form. The five songs are certainly not make-weights and display many of the same merits. (Concord LP: CJA00538;

CD: CJA00531) ★★★★★

All-saxophone groups were once fashionable in both classical music and jazz. Late in that period (in 1984) PRISM Quartet emerged from the University of Michigan, subsequently earning accolades and awards for their adventurous programming and commissioning. For Heritage/evolution, Vol. 2 they are supercharged with heavyweight guests Ravi Coltrane, Joe Lovano and Chris Potter. Breaching the boundary between written and improvised music, the four works here were contributed by each guest and PRISM’S tenor-player, Matt Levy. Sometimes improvisation floats over through-composed passages, elsewhere free interpretation of the score is encouraged, but everything is played with accomplishment and commitment. (XAS Records XAS 113) ★★★★