• Home
  • About
    • Doug Ramsey
    • Rifftides
    • Contact
  • Purchase Doug’s Books
    • Poodie James
    • Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond
    • Jazz Matters
    • Other Works
  • AJBlogs
  • ArtsJournal
  • rss

Rifftides

Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...

Monday Recommendation: Tom Harrell

harrell-gold-blueTom Harrell, Something Gold, Something Blue (High Note)

Harrell’s front-line partners in this stimulating venture are fellow trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and the adventuresome guitarist Charles Altura, each more than three decades younger than the leader. They blend and contrast through eight Harrell compositions and a standard song. There is nothing in the music to indicate the age difference. Indeed, Harrell’s lyricism and audacious harmonic example continue to set standards for musicians of several generations. Each of the soloists has his moments in this generally restrained collection; exhibitionism would be out of place when talent and expressiveness run so deep. The highlights include a succession of notable solo moments in the modal “Trances;” blues implications in ”Keep on Goin’”; the exoticism of “Delta of the Nile;” and the trumpet exchanges in a relaxed “Body and Soul.” Bassist Ugonna Okegwo and drummer Jonathan Blake, longtime Harrell colleagues, are superb throughout.

Related

Doug Ramsey

Doug is a recipient of the lifetime achievement award of the Jazz Journalists Association. He lives in the Pacific Northwest, where he settled following a career in print and broadcast journalism in cities including New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, San Antonio, … [MORE]

Subscribe to RiffTides by Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Archives

Recent Comments

  • Rob D on We’re Back: Pianist Denny Zeitlin’s New Trio Album for Sunnyside
  • W. Royal Stokes on We’re Back: Pianist Denny Zeitlin’s New Trio Album for Sunnyside
  • Larry on We’re Back: Pianist Denny Zeitlin’s New Trio Album for Sunnyside
  • Lucille Dolab on We’re Back: Pianist Denny Zeitlin’s New Trio Album for Sunnyside
  • Donna Birchard on We’re Back: Pianist Denny Zeitlin’s New Trio Album for Sunnyside