JD Allen

Jan 30 2020

Best of 2019 #22: Gerald Cleaver & Violet Hour – “Live at Firehouse 12”

 

In a modern jazz world where the forms of expression have become more varied and strange and untethered from the original sounds that marked the first giant steps of jazz, it’s a welcome experience to encounter a recording to remind us what got us all crazy about this music in the first place.  Gerald Cleaver’s live performance recording at Firehouse 12 with his Violet Hour ensemble swings like mad as it charges straight ahead.  The solos make you wish they’d never end except when the sextet comes back together and makes you wish for them to never part ways again.  The production is such that it brings the electricity of the live environment right into your home without any drop-off, and, yet, also leave you a bit jealous of those who were there to hear it in person.  This is Jazz today, this is Jazz as it ever was.

Your album personnel:  Gerald Cleaver (drums), J.D. Allen (tenor sax), Andrew Bishop (bass clarinet, soprano & tenor saxophones), Jeremy Pelt (trumpet), Ben Waltzer (piano), and Chris Lightcap (bass).

Released on Sunnyside Records.

Music from New York City.

I wrote about the album for The Bandcamp Daily.

Listen | Read more | Available at:  Bandcamp – Amazon

By • Recap: Best of 2019 • 0 • Tags: , , , , , ,

Mar 4 2019

Album of the Day: Jacob Duncan Quintet – “It’s Alright To Dream”

 

Artist:  Jacob Duncan Quintet

Album:  It’s Alright To Dream

Label:  Self-Produced

Style:  Straight-ahead

Favorite Track: “Nached Up”

Music from:  Louisville, KY

What I like about it:  Some albums sound like musicians simply getting together for a casual session, and somebody decided to hit a record button just for the hell of it.  Those kinds of recordings possess an enveloping intimacy, where the familiarity of the musicians with one another and the sense of camaraderie and kinship bleeds through every note.  It’s like getting a behind-the-scenes listen to music being created just because it’s what the artists are compelled to do.  I like how this session from Jacob Duncan, and featuring JD Allen, as well as some Louisville, KY natives plays out in exactly that way.  The quintet bounces some solid melodies back and forth and open up wide lanes for soloists to pass through.

Your album personnel:  Jacob Duncan (alto sax), JD Allen (tenor sax), John Goldsby (bass), Gabriel Evens (piano) and Mike Hyman (drums).

Available at:  Amazon | Bandcamp

Listen to more of the album on the artist’s Bandcamp page.

Be sure to check out the artist’s site.

By • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2018 • 1 • Tags: , , ,