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Chris Potter and more – first shared musical space with Hart in the late eighties.
The trio takes on a program of three Hays originals and three “contrafacts” of well-known standards. The latter means rearrangements and extrapolations on “Scrapple From the Apple” (as “Unscrappulous”), “Stella By Starlight” (as “Twilight”) and “All the Things You Are” (the hard-swinging title track) – all reminiscent of the originals, but not close enough to truly be covers. (There’s long been precedent for this approach in jazz – after all, Charlie Parker’s “Moose the Mooche” and Duke Ellington’s “Cotton Tail” are both based on “I Got Rhythm,” and Miles Davis’ “So What” and John Coltrane’s “Impressions” use the chord structure of Morton Gould’s “Pavanne.”) Besides, considering this threesome’s incomparable improvisational chops, any tune becomes a new tune in their hands. Hays’ incredible piano chops and melodic sense and Hart an
2 of 5 Roy Hargrove 3 of 5 Josh Johnson 4 of 5 Hays Street Hart 5 of 5 Dahveed Behroozi
Nnenna Freelon, Time In a Bottle
On
Time Traveler, her first album in more than a decade, Nnenna Freelon considers the passage of time through the prism of personal loss. The album is a tribute to the memory of her husband of 40 years, noted architect Phil Freelon, who died in 2019.
Among the more emotional expressions on the album is this cover of Time in a Bottle, a posthumous No. 1 hit for singer-songwriter Jim Croce. With a sharp band arrangement by her pianist, Miki Hayama, Freelon brings depth and drama to her interpretation of the song especially on the yearning chorus: But there never seems to be enough time / To do the things you want to do, once you find them.
Guitarist Greg Skaff s latest album,
Polaris, finds the former Wichitan and longtime New York City resident accompanied by two of the greatest living jazz players: bassist Ron Carter and drummer Albert Tootie Heath.
Comprised of original material from Skaff as well as a bevy of standards, the record demonstrates Skaff s particular genius on his instrument, including his singular phrasing and the ability to reimagine standards in such a way that renders them new.
Not a small feat, but then neither is recruiting two legends for your record and finishing the LP at the dawn of a pandemic.
Polaris, as Skaff tells it, was tracked in two quick bursts of activity: The first in August 2019 and the second in March 2020, amid circumstances that were filled with levity (in the case of Carter and Heath reuniting for the first time in decades) and gravity (the arrival of COVID-19 and the fate of sessions hanging in the balance).
New Music Monday Vincent Herring, Rodney Whitaker, Jihye Lee Orchestra
Vincent Herring – “Preaching to the Choir”
Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Vincent has been living in The Bronx since the late 1980s, he’s considered one the most gifted saxophonists on the current scene. For his latest he reunites with pianist Cyrus Chestnut who contributes while Herring wrote 2 tunes for this excellent album. Yasushi Nakamura is on bass and Jonathan Blake is at drums. There are nice renditions of 5 jazz chestnuts and 2 brilliant adaptations of soul music songs. All in all, a most pleasurable listening experience recorded live at Smoke Jazz Club of Manhattan.