Terri Lyne Carington: The Mosaic Project (2011)

Anyone who caught American drummer Terri Lyne Carrington's performance at the recent Barbican show featuring Dianne Reeves, Angelique Kidjo and Lizz Wright will want to check out this star-packed session. Like the Barbican gig, its focus is women's jazz-making. Here, however, there is a much bigger cast, including Reeves, pianist Geri Allen, Cassandra Wilson, Esperanza Spalding, Gretchen Parlato, Nona Hendryx, saxist Tineke Postma and more. It has a unifying historical and social agenda – but it's a discreet one, and the music is certainly the priority. Hendryx's anthemic Transformation opens the show, with the composer's soulful declarations warmly shaded by Ingrid Jensen's flugelhorn. Parlato's diametrically different and resonantly intimate accounts of I Got Lost in His Arms and the Beatles' Michelle follow. Reeves's rich, gospelly sound rises up over an old Angela Davis speech on the legacy of slavery; Wilson's earthy low tones ease through Allen's Unconditional Love; Jensen and Postma whirl through the postbop swinger Insomniac; and the bonus track Sisters on the Rise makes a slightly tokenistic nod towards hip-hop. This is, by definition, song-rooted and quite pop-angled jazz, but full of eager spontaneity.

Tracklist:
1. Transformation
2. I Got Lost In His Arms
3. Michelle
4. Magic And Music
5. Echo
6. Simply Beautiful
7. Unconditional Love
8. Wistful
9. Crayola
10. Soul Talk
11. Mosaic Triad
12. Insomniac
13. Show Me A Sign
14. Sisters On The Rise (A Transformation)
The Mosaic Project
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Danilo Perez: Across the Crystal Sea (2008)

Danilo Perez was born in Panama in 1966. He is considered one of the finest contemporary pianists and jazz composers of our era.

Danilo started his musical training at 3 years old with his father Danilo Sr, a professional bandleader and singer, gave Danilo Jr. his first set of bongos. By the time he was 10 years of age he was studying the European Classical Piano repertoire at the National Conservatory in Panama, eventually transferring to the Berklee College of Music to study Jazz composition and then serving as a professor at the New England Conservatory of Music. While growing up in Panama, Perez was notably influenced by the works of Gershwin, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, and his mentor in spirit Thelonious Monk.

Tracklist:

1. Across The Crystal Sea

2. Rays And Shadows
3. Lazy Afternoon
4. The Purple Condor
5. If I Forget You
6. (All Of A Sudden) My Heart Sings
7. The Saga Of Rita Joe
8. Another Autumn
Personnel:
Danilo Perez — piano
Claus Ogerman — conducted and arranged
Cassandra Wilson — vocals (on 3 & 6)
Christian McBride — bass
Lewis Nash — drums
Luis Quintero — percussion
Bruce Dukov — concert master
Across The Crystal Sea - Conducted and Arranged by Claus Ogerman
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