Stefon Harris, David Sanchez, Christian Scott: Ninety Miles (2011)

This album is a collaboration between vibraphonist Stefon Harris, trumpeter Christian Scott, and tenor saxophonist David Sanchez, recorded in Havana with Cuban musicians, including pianists Rember Duharte and Harold Lopez-Nussa. It's not a Latin jazz album, though; these guys are primarily interested in moving classic hard bop into the future with infusions of hip-hop sensibility and groove, and that aesthetic permeates Ninety Miles, though there are occasional keyboard montunos and plenty of conga-driven rhythms to be heard, particularly on the album's peak, the hard Afro-Cuban/New Orleans funk workout "Congo." In a way, Ninety Miles is a puzzling album, because it doesn't seem to be making any explicit political statement; it's about the artistry, and nothing more. Christian Scott is a blazing young trumpeter in the Clifford Brown mold; Stefon Harris, who came up under Greg Osby, is keenly aware of the vibes' traditional position within jazz, and makes the most of that; David Sanchez is a powerful saxophonist with a flair for melody over muscle-flexing displays of lung power. And that's all they really want you to take away from this album. It's a blowing session that just happens to have been recorded in Cuba, with Cuban musicians backing them. Which, in its way, is a political statement, if an oblique one. But the album is well worth hearing on purely musical grounds.
by Phil Freeman

Tracklist:
01. Nengueleru (Duharte) 5:04
02. E'cha (Torres) 4:17
03. City Sunrise (Sanchez) 6:47
04. The Forgotten Ones (Sanchez) 3:53
05. Black Action Figure (Harris)6:21
06. Congo (Duharte) 6:30
07. And This Too Shall Pass (Harris) 9:28
08. Brown Belle Blues (Harris) 5:00
09. La Fiesta Va (Torres) 5:46
Personnel:
Vibraphone – Stefon Harris
Tenor Saxophone – David Sanchez
Trumpet – Christian Scott
Tracks 1,6,8:
Piano, Vocals (6) – Rember Duharte (1,6,8)
Electric Bass – Osmar Salazar
Drums – Eduardo Barroetabena
Bata, Congas, Percussion – Jean Roberto San Miguel
Tracks 2,3,5,7,9
Piano - Harold Lopez-Nussa
Bass - Yandy Martinez Gonzalez
Drums – Ruy Adrain Lopea-Nussa
Congas, Djembe, Percussion, Bata (4) – Edgar Martinez Ochoa
Ninety Miles
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Re-posT: Kenny Barron Quintet: Images (2004)

While this album seems mellow on first listen, there's a lot going on under the surface: sharp time-signature changes (a la Dave Brubeck), breakneck tempos, Brazilian undertones, and complex, darting but always pretty melodies. Not to overlook the soloing; Barron consistently dazzles with his lean, Thelonious Monk-tinged style, Stefon Harris's vibes glisten like morning sunlight, and Anne Drummond's flute is both soothing and spirited simultaneously. IMAGES is recommended to not only Barron and jazz-piano fans, but those who think music can't be intensely artistic and accessible at once.

Hard-bop pianist Kenny Barron has been a "musician's musician" for decades, playing behind such towering figures as Dizzy Gilles pie, Yusef Lateef, Stan Getz, and Freddie Hubbard. But in the 1990s, Barron began to take center stage, leading mostly trios through a series of albums that established him as a fine composer of intricate but madly swinging tunes. On IMAGES, he's assembled a somewhat unusual lineup, dispensing with any reeds or brass--just piano, flute, vibes, bass, and drums. The result is a set of bright, deceptively easygoing straight-ahead jazz--imagine the Modern Jazz Quartet after a long vacation in Brazil, where they drank lots of coffee.

Tracklist:

01 So It Seems - 4:12
02 Jasmine Flower - 5:48
03 Inside Out - 6:35
04 The Lost Ones - 7:05
05 Hallucinations - 4:01
06 Song for Abdullah - 6:46
07 Footprints - 7:12
08 Marie Laveau - 7:40
09 Miss Missy - 5:22
10 Images - 18:02

Personnel:

Kenny Barron (piano)
Stefon Harris (vibraphone)
Anne Drummond (alto and c-flute)
Kiyoshi Kitagawa (bass)
Kim Thompson (drums)
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Conrad Herwig: Heart of Darkness (1998)

In demand as a sideman, Herwig has been a featured member in the Joe Henderson Sextet, Tom Harrell’s Septet and Big Band, and the Joe Lovano Nonet (featured as a soloist on Lovano’s Grammy Award winning 52nd St Themes). Conrad also performs and records with Eddie Palmieri’s "La Perfecta II" and Afro-Caribbean Jazz Octet, Paquito D’Rivera’s Havana-New York Connection, the Mingus Big Band (often serving as musical director, and arranger on the new 2007 Grammy nominated - "Live at the Tokyo Blue Note"), and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band (Jon Faddis, musical director) among others.
Tracklist:
1.Heart Of Darkness (Conrad Herwig)
2.Secret Sharer (Conrad Herwig)
3.Inner Sincerity (Conrad Herwig)
4.Silent Tears (Conrad Herwig)
5.The Instigator (Conrad Herwig)
6.Watch Your Steps (Conrad Herwig)
7.The Lamp Is Low (Parish / Ravel / De Rose / Shefter)
8.Tilt (Conrad Herwig)

Personnel:
Conrad Herwig (Trombone)
Walt Weiskopf (Tenor & SopranoSaxophone)
Stefon Harris (Vibraphon)
Bill Charlap (Piano )
Peter Washington (Bass)
Billy Drummond (Drums)
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Fileserve @ 320K

Kenny Barron Quintet: Images (2004)

While this album seems mellow on first listen, there's a lot going on under the surface: sharp time-signature changes (a la Dave Brubeck), breakneck tempos, Brazilian undertones, and complex, darting but always pretty melodies. Not to overlook the soloing; Barron consistently dazzles with his lean, Thelonious Monk-tinged style, Stefon Harris's vibes glisten like morning sunlight, and Anne Drummond's flute is both soothing and spirited simultaneously. IMAGES is recommended to not only Barron and jazz-piano fans, but those who think music can't be intensely artistic and accessible at once.

Hard-bop pianist Kenny Barron has been a "musician's musician" for decades, playing behind such towering figures as Dizzy Gilles pie, Yusef Lateef, Stan Getz, and Freddie Hubbard. But in the 1990s, Barron began to take center stage, leading mostly trios through a series of albums that established him as a fine composer of intricate but madly swinging tunes. On IMAGES, he's assembled a somewhat unusual lineup, dispensing with any reeds or brass--just piano, flute, vibes, bass, and drums. The result is a set of bright, deceptively easygoing straight-ahead jazz--imagine the Modern Jazz Quartet after a long vacation in Brazil, where they drank lots of coffee.

Tracklist:
01 So It Seems - 4:12
02 Jasmine Flower - 5:48
03 Inside Out - 6:35
04 The Lost Ones - 7:05
05 Hallucinations - 4:01
06 Song for Abdullah - 6:46
07 Footprints - 7:12
08 Marie Laveau - 7:40
09 Miss Missy - 5:22
10 Images - 18:02
Personnel: Kenny Barron (piano)
Stefon Harris (vibraphone)
Anne Drummond (alto and c-flute)
Kiyoshi Kitagawa (bass)
Kim Thompson (drums)
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Fileserve @ 320K