One of the best listening experiences I've had in the past half-decade is the SF Jazz Collective's Live 2009: The works of McCoy Tyner Plus New Compositions.
The group is sponsored by SFJazz, the Bay Area nonprofit that presents an annual festival and performances throughout the year. Each year, the Collective plays at the festival and tours nationwide, performing the music of one noteworthy musician as well as original work by members composed especially for the group. The lineup changes every year.
The 2009 unit played the works of McCoy Tyner, whom I saw many times in the 70s. Memories of those performances remain soldered onto my hippocampus: Tyner pounding the keys, his left hand regularly rising up clawlike to pounce on another chord cluster, sweat pouring from his chin beard. The rhythmic power of the music set me up, and the water-cannon solos knocked me down.
In any case, the 2009 unit — Joe Lovano (tenor saxophone), Dave Douglas (trumpet), Renee Rosnes (piano), Miguel Zenon (alto saxophone and flute), Matt Penman (bass), Robin Eubanks (trombone) and Eric Harland (drums) — channeled that energy and found new ways to explore Tyner's compositions. There's some astonishing playing by Douglas and Zenon, and Rosnes has a great time channeling the maestro without mimicking him. And Harland on drums delivers heavy-hitting, hard driving swing throughout, with explosive accents.
The album is not cheap ($35), but it's a live, two-disc set, so you get value. It's available only at the SFJazz Web site: http://www.sfjazz.org/shop/music/collective/cd_2009.php
No comments:
Post a Comment