Tag: Orrin Evans

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Dan Bilawsky’s AAJ review for Captain Black Big Band…

www.allaboutjazz.com

The Posi-Tone label has positioned itself as a prime purveyor of small group jazz, with artists like pianist Orrin Evans leading the way, and both parties are breaking new ground with the release of The Captain Black Big Band. After putting out dozens of small group sessions, the label has taken a bold step in a bigger direction by releasing the debut big band recording from one of jazz’s rising stars. Evans’ prior output for the label—his ownFaith In Action (Posi-Tone, 2010) and the audacious collective efforts on Tarbaby’s The End Of Fear (Posi-Tone 2010)—present an artist possessing a keen sense of balance between inside and outside ideals, and this same approach can be felt throughout this record.

The first three numbers spotlight three different composers and arrangers, which demonstrating the full breadth and depth of what this band can do. The full weight of the ensemble is used sparingly on Todd Bashore‘s arrangement of Ralph Peterson‘s “The Art Of War,” and the focus really falls on Rob Landham’s helium-infused alto saxophone work. The band touches on Latin grooves with Gianluca Renzi‘s “Here’s The Captain,” which features some explosive piano work from Evans, and Todd Marcus‘ arrangement of his own “Inheritance” demonstrates a more melodically centered form of big band writing. His bass clarinet work adds a new dimension to the sound of the band, and trumpeter Walter White injects some humor into the proceedings with a “Hallelujah” quote from Handel’sMessiah.

The last four tracks are penned by Evans, giving the music a certain sense of continuity, but the pieces themselves come from different points in Evans’ compositional evolution, and three different arrangers put their own unique stamp on his work. Bashore arranges a pair of tunes from Captain Black (Criss Cross, 1998)—the title track, and “Big Jimmy,” an album highlight where the saxophonist uses measured dissonance in the introduction and, once things start swinging, White’s brawny trumpet work is as beautifully boisterous as it gets. Marcus tackles the title track fromEasy Now (Criss Cross, 2005), underscoring some high-to-low voice contrasts at the outset with some rumbling drums, as the music eventually takes on a down-tempo, loose swing vibe.

Evans’ own arrangement of his “Jena 6,” from the Tarbaby album, is the recording’s most adventurous ride. Neil Podgurski‘s drama-filled piano prelude, with certain disjunct sensibilities, gives way to a woozy and ominous atmosphere. Alto saxophonist Jaleel Shaw becomes the focal point, as the rhythm section coalesces into a free bop machine and the icing on the cake comes in the form of Shaw’s coarse-as-can-be coda, which boils over with energy.

The Captain Black Big Band has easily earned its stripes with this self-titled debut, demonstrating another side of Evans’ endlessly fascinating musical personality.

 

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Philadelphia Inquirer review for Captain Black Big Band…

 www.philly.com
Orrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band
*/Captain Black Big Band
/(Posi-Tone Records ***1/2)

Pianist Orrin Evans embraces a larger-than-usual cast on this big-band 
recording. The seven pieces - one is recorded at Chris' Jazz Cafe in 
Philadelphia, the rest at the Jazz Gallery in New York - are 
hard-blowing, tumultuous affairs that could come from the Art Blakey 
playbook, albeit with some updating.

Evans, a composer, arranger, and even a promoter, pulls players from 
Philly and New York for a CD full of warm horns and slashing solos.

Composers/arrangers Todd Bashore and Todd Marcus offer up compositions 
and arrangements along with Evans, who keeps the reliably combustible 
proceedings on track. While not always pretty, it is the real deal. 
Tenor saxophonist Ralph Bowen and altoists Rob Landham and Jaleel Shaw 
are some of the folks who light up this disc.

*- Karl Stark*

 

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Ben Ratliff reviews Captain Black Big Band for the New York Times…

www.nytimes.com

Orrin Evans’s Captain Black Big Band

Some of the same energy of the Sanabria record lives in “Captain Black Big Band” (Posi-Tone), the first album from a new large ensemble led by the pianist Orrin Evans. Recorded at spots around Philadelphia and New York City over the past year, it is deep in the tradition of African-American East Coast jazz since the mid-’60s, percussive, punching and hard swinging; it might make you think of big bands led by Charles Tolliver, Charles Mingus and Clifford Jordan. And with its multiple composers and even multiple pianists, it’s got range. (Mr. Evans conducts as well; when he does, others take his keyboard bench.) There are many soloists worth mentioning here — the trumpeter Walter White, the drummer Anwar Marshall, the pianist Neil Podgurski. But the alto saxophonist Jaleel Shaw outdoes them all with his performance at the end of Mr. Evans’s alternately peaceful and baleful piece “Jena 6.” It is a prolonged and controlled fury, definitely one of the best improvisations I’ve heard this year.

 

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orrin evans and the captain black big band

outsideinsideout.wordpress.com

Orrin Evans: Captain Black Big Band (Posi-Tone PR 8078)

There’s nothing like hearing a big band charging ahead at full throttle, which is what you get with Orrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band.  The tunes, arrangements and style is a contemporary and updated take on the traditional, swinging, high powered big band; it’s nothing like recent work by Maria Schneider or Darcy James Argue.  The disc was recorded on three different occasions: two consecutive nights at The Jazz Gallery in NYC in April of ’10 with the opening tune recorded in Philadelphia at Chris’ Jazz Cafe in February of that year.  Due to the different venues and the fact there were several weeks in between recordings the personnel varies, and as such there are a lot of folks who contributed to the album, some you’ve probably heard of such as saxophonists Tia Fuller, Jaleel Shaw and Wayne Escoffery, as well as those who I am less familiar with, but who are no less killing.  Soloists are listed, but other than that it’s difficult to tell who played on what night – but really it doesn’t matter because every track is consistently engaging and well executed.  The band’s arrangements, which strike a perfect balance between solos and ensemble playing, are by Ralph Peterson, Gianluca Renzi, Todd Bashore, Todd Marcus and Orrin Evans.  The section playing and rhythm section is tight throughout.  ”Art of War” opens up the album, with altoman Rob Landham whipping the crowd into a frenzy with his altissimo acrobatics.  Renzi’s “Here’s the Captain” features an opening piano solo by Evans before the horn sections jump in and play against each other with counter statements, it’s an updated take on the arranging methods of the early Basie units – but don’t take that to mean this is a throwback outfit.  Victor North’s exploratory tenor solo lays perfectly over the Afro-Cuban-esque groove and is stoked nicely by the horn backgrounds near the end of his solo.  Evans’ solo, backed by a medium up swing ride cymbal pattern from Gene Jackson, builds in intensity and tension, as he lays down right hand single note runs with highly syncopated and accented left hand chords.  Evans’ “Easy Now,” arranged by Todd Marcus, throws down some serious brass bombast – the bass bone and bari sax players are straight nasty here.  Lead trumpeters Brian Kilpatrick and Walter White, who damn near blows the house down on “Big Jimmy,” are bad bad men throughout.  Jaleel Shaw’s alto solo on the album’s closer “Jena 6,” and which takes up the track’s final seven minutes, is the record’s highest point for me (but I’m biased because I’m a saxophonist).  He runs the gamut, from free time probing statements that eventually settle into scorching fast bebop runs spurred on by the rhythm section and the monster horn background chords, to growled screams, to a climaxing solo cadenza that suggests an urgency and need to get everything he can out of his horn at that particular moment.  Evans’ Captain Black Big Band is one of the most fun, energetic, swinging and compelling big band records I’ve heard in a while.  If you can’t see them live (which I’m sure I won’t be able to do, as I live outside Kansas City) get the record.

 

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SomethingElse! reviews the Captain Black Big Band CD…

somethingelsereviews.com

— March 23, 2011 10:31 am

One Track Mind: Orrin Evans, “Jena 6 ” (2011)

Posted by Nick DeRiso

by Nick DeRiso

Turns out, it actually does mean a thing, even if it ain’t got that swing.

For something like 80 years now, that old Duke Ellington cliche worked as the clarion call of big band music, but its mantra has also become its curse. Subsequent generations moved on to genres with more complexity, a challenge that Orrin Evans‘ new Captain Black Big Band accepts, and then inhabits.

In fact, the album defiantly shucks off the bow-tied fox-trotting boilerplate of old. Nowhere is that more true than this tune, as Evans and Co. musically recall a racially charged 2007 incident at a high school in this sleepy Louisiana village that eventually led to consumptive demonstrations of emotion, and national headlines. Appropriately, “Jena 6″ transforms, in the space of a few moments, from this gospel-tinged solo into an unhinged outpouring of seething rage.

Composer and arranger Evans, who also calls his group the Captain Black Big Band, opens the tune with a stoic piano interlude by Neal Podgurski, recalling those familiar black-and-white newsreel struggles at lunch counters, bus stops and on the other end of fire hoses. But he isn’t about to settle for the staid heroism of that image, even if that’s what’s so thoroughly expected. When a funereal smattering of horns finally joins in, the crowd at New York City’s Jazz Gallery seems tempted to applaud, only to pause and think better of it. There is this catharsis in those devastating wails — but not the joyous kind. As the larger group joins in, “Jena 6″ takes on a swaying, atmospheric grief, and you’re reminded of how this whole thing started.

Six African-American teenagers were initially charged in adult court with attempted murder and conspiracy charges in the beating of a white classmate in Jena, Louisiana, an incident that followed months of racial tensions in the town of about 3,000 people. Subsequently called the Jena 6, their case drew national attention from civil rights groups that said the charges were excessive, and more than 15,000 people turned out for a September 2007 rally on the teens’ behalf. The charges were eventually reduced, but not before the town became a symbol of the issues that linger between blacks and whites.

 

It’s a complex, unresolved, punishing memory, the kind that leaves a residue of flammability. The full measure of that is revealed as altoist Jaleel Shaw steps forward on this, the closing track for Captain Black Big Band, just out on Posi-Tone Records. At first, he’s insular and thought provoking, then he’s charging forward — echoing the turbulent emotions that welled up toward an eventual outburst. Evan’s group provides striking symphonic blasts, like gun fire, as Shaw delves deeper. By the end of his excursion, more than five minutes later, Shaw has descended past a blur of fear, and into a singing fury.

The song finds, in its conclusion, something that’s towering, nearly apocolyptic, and appropriately so. Evans and Co. don’t so much pull Shaw back into a concluding musical signature — something so blandly typical of jazz music in general, and of big-band music specifically — as launch him into a searing, otherworldly, nearly out of control series of aggressive, non-linear ruminations. He sounds very much like a clinched fist.

“Jena 6,” difficult to listen to but yet reflective of the disquiet surrounding that event, is perfectly unsettling. And a perfect example of what big band music can still be.

 

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Lucid Culture reviews Orrin Evans – Captain Black Big Band….

lucidculture.wordpress.com

Orrin Evans’ Captain Black Big Band Is Everything You’d Expect

In some ways, what Pink Floyd, Nektar, Supertramp and all the rest of the orchestrated rock bands were to the “classic rock” era, new big band jazz is to the decade of the teens. It’s where you get your epic grandeur fix. Towering, intense angst; full-blown exhilaration. There’s a lot more of the latter than the former on pianist Orrin Evans’ brand-new Captain Black Big Band album, but there’s still gravitas and intensity as you would expect from him. Like the Mingus repertory bands, Evans employs a rotating cast for this group, in this case an A-list mostly from New York and Philadelphia, in a live concert recording. Also like Mingus, the compositions blend an impatient urban bustle with an irrepressible joie de vivre. The compositions are pretty oldschool, closer to Mingus or Ellington than, say, than Jim McNeely.

The album gets started on a trad note with Art of War, a brisk bluesy swing tune by drummer Ralph Peterson. Rob Landham’s alto solo goes squalling quickly and spirals out neatly with a blaze as the brass rises – it’s sort of a warmup for what’s to come.Here’s the Captain, by bassistGianluca Renzi opens with Evans’ murky distant piano grandeur – it’s a Cuban son montuno groove led by the trombone, an incisively simmering Victor North tenor solo followed by Evans who stays on course with a couple of cloudbursts thrown in for good measure. Inheritance, by bass clarinetist and big band leader Todd Marcus is swinging and exuberant with New Orleans tinges and a modified Diddleybeat. The first of Evans’ compositions, Big Jimmy is a soaring swing number with some deftly concealed rhythmic trickiness, trumpeterWalter White faking a start and then moving it up to some blissed-out glissandos, followed by tenor player Ralph Bowen who jumps in spinning out wild spirals – it’s adrenalizing to the extreme.

Buoyantly memorable in a late 50s Miles kind of way, Captain Black maxes out a long, fiery ensemble passage into solos by pianist Jim Holton(Evans has moved to the podium to conduct), Bowen shifting from shuffle to sustain followed by trombonist Stafford Hunter shadowboxing with the band. They save the best for last with the final two tunes. Easy Now is absolutely gorgeous, a study in dark/light contrasts with an ominous, dramatic low brass-driven intro lit up by drummer Anwar Marshall’s blazing cymbals. Trumpeter Tatum Greenblatt and then baritone saxophonist Mark Allen go from pensive to assured and playful over Evans’ wary, wounded gospel-tinged lines; it winds up on a roaring, powerful note. The album concludes with the rich sepia tones of Jena 6, a track that also appears on Evans’ superb Tarbaby albumfrom last year, referencing the Arkansas students persecuted in the wake of a 2007 attack by white racists. A lyrical Neil Podgurski piano intro begins the harrowing narrative with an ominous series of slow, portentous gospel-tinged crescendos. As Jaleel Shaw’s alto moves from genial swing to unhinged cadenzas and anguished overtones as the orchestra cooks behind him and then leaves him out to wail all alone, the effect is viscerally stunning. Count this among the most richly satisfying albums of 2010 so far. Evans will be interviewed on NPR’s A Blog Supreme this Friday the 25th; the album is just out on Posi-Tone.

 

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First Listen: Orrin Evans, ‘Captain Black Big Band’

www.npr.org

March 20, 2011

There’s a certain type of payoff only a big band, or large jazz ensemble, can provide. It’s akin to driving a muscle car, or owning the paint store: So much momentum and horsepower, so many colors and textures. It’s a similar level of investment too; you try to marshal 15-20 top-flight musicians, artistically or economically. But plenty are still willing to make a go of it, in search of the oomph and oooh only an extended family of horns can provide.

It makes sense that the pianist Orrin Evans is one of them. He’s been on the circuit since the mid-’90s, and leading bands for nearly that long. (He’s got a new small group record coming this summer.) He knows both the Philadelphia and New York jazz scenes well, and has often sought to bring them closer. And as a performer, he brings a bold intensity to the piano, seemingly informed by McCoy Tyner’s voicings and a heavyweight boxer’s roundhouse punches.

The jazz orchestra that Orrin Evans created is called the Captain Black Big Band, though it’s almost the Captain Black Big Bands, plural. A lot of musicians — young and old, from either Philadelphia or New York — played on this debut album: 38 in total, over seven tracks. They rotated in and out during this series of live performances from early 2010; Evans even got two other pianists to take his own chair. Indeed, there’s a collective spirit to the enterprise, where Evans is more community organizer than meticulous auteur. He wrote but four of seven tunes, only one of which he arranged for big band, while bandmates wrote and arranged the other numbers.

This town hall meeting of a band makes the kind of jazz that nearly everyone could agree to call jazz. There are layers of squirming saxes, and bright piano, and serious brass blasts — low-end, high-note, and mid-range alike — tied together with a surplus of swing. But it doesn’t sound stuck in a misremembered era — there are jutting edges to the writing, and they’re played with a fashionably loose vibe. (As analogues, think of contemporary big bands led by trumpeters Roy Hargrove, or Nicholas Payton, or Charles Tolliver, or even the Charles Mingus repertory group, which Evans has served in.) And no soloist is afraid to hold anything back: There’s audacity of spirit here.

Here’s an example from the album’s last song, the brooding, weighty “Jena 6.” Jaleel Shaw starts his solo meandering about on alto saxophone; six tumultuous minutes later, he’s absolutely screeching an overblown solo cadenza. After all the rough-and-tumble, the unapologetic swing, the energy spent trying to ride such an unruly beast of a band, it hits like a deep tissue massage, aching and cathartic. And when he finally lifts the horn from his mouth, the audience audibly understands.

Captain Black Big Band will stream here in its entirety leading up to its release on March 29. Please leave your thoughts on the album in the comments section below.

 

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Jeff Krow’s Audiophile Audition review for Orrin Evans – Captain Black Big Band…

www.audaud.com

Orrin Evans/ Captain Black Big Band – Posi-Tone Records PR8078, 59:54  ****:

(Artists include: Orrin Evans – piano; Tatum Greenblatt, Brian Kilpatrick, Walter White, Jack Walrath – trumpets; Mark Allen, Ralph Bowen, Wayne Escoffery, Tia Fuller, Rob Landham, Victor North, Jaleel Shaw, Tim Warfield – saxophones; Stafford Hunter, Frank Lacy, Brent White – trombones; Todd Marcus – bass clarinet; Luques Curtis – doublebass; Anwar Marshall, Gene Jackson, Donald Edwards – drums; Musical Direction – Orrin Evans)

Orrin Evans, pianist extraordinaire, seems to be everywhere lately. Whether it is leading his own group on recordings (Faith in Action) or backing other artists including Posi-Tone’s own Ralph Bowen on Power Play, Evans has become a major player in contemporary jazz. Orrin’s piano skills have been recognized and now it is time to catch him as a big band leader on Captain Black Big Band. Captain Black was the title of his 1998 Criss Cross label CD, which introduced the composition of the same name.

In February and April 2010, Orrin took Captain Black on the road as a big band to Chris’ Jazz Café in Philadelphia as well as The Jazz Gallery in New York. They recorded seven compositions that highlight both his compositional skills and arranging talents. Orrin composed or arranged four out of the seven tracks. Bandmates in the sax section are well known, while the brass section includes Walter White, Brian Kilpatrick, Jack Walrath, Stafford Hunter and Frank Lacy.

What is most obvious on this live recording is the infectious joy that this band brings to the stage. You can sense the fun and camaraderie. I compare them in this sense to the present Mingus Big Band and that is quite a compliment as that group has been together for quite some time. The comparison is apt as Orrin and mates have a similar swagger, and while occasionally pushing the envelope towards open free playing they retain a sense of swing and the compositional melodies have memorable hooks that keep the listener along for the ride.

On “Here’s the Captain” Evans intro sets the stage for a heavily swinging vibrant musical stew. Victor North’s tenor solo drives the track while Gene Jackson on drums shows cymbal mastery.

Todd Marcus’ “Inheritance” is intriguing as Marcus on bass clarinet and trumpeter Walter White both shine. The bass clarinet adds a mysterious vibe with its Middle Eastern tone.

Walter White is again featured on “Big Jimmy” and his power and strut on trumpet is impressive. Orrin’s’ label mate and cohort Ralph Bowen gets ample solo time on both this track as well as on the title cut. The band’s ensemble talents shine on “Captain Black” and they can show a polished sheen that normally takes much longer to develop in a big band.

“Easy Now” belies its title as its majestic theme reaches crescendos that are orchestral in nature. It then changes mood as Tatum Greenblatt’s trumpet solo takes it in a lyrical direction, followed by some cacophony that turns into a blues. It was my favorite track on the CD.

“Jena 6” begins with a classical sounding piano solo by Neal Podgurski followed by a somber funereal stretch from the horns before Jaleel Shaw’s alto solo goes off for an extended stretch as the energy reaches a breaking point as Jaleel takes the track out frantically. What a wild ride…

TrackList: Art of War, Here’s the Captain, Inheritance, Big Jimmy, Captain black, Easy Now, Jena 6

— Jeff Krow

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A nice interview with Orrin Evans….

jumpphilly.com

Orrin Evans: Philly Is a Big Part of Who I Am.

MARCH 10, 2011
by Geo

Text and image by Jacob Colon.

Pianist Orrin Evans could live just about anywhere.

Born in Trenton and raised in Mount Airy, Evans, 36, quickly went from playing small gigs in his hometown to performing on tour throughout Western Europe and the Middle East.

The Martin Luther King High School grad has recorded numerous albums and collaborated with musicians like Pharaoh Sanders, Branford Marsalis and Mos Def.

Yet, Evans is still rooted here, in Philly, and every Monday night, he leads a band of locals in a happy hour jazz jam session at the World Café Live.

Our Jacob Colon sat down with Evans at his home in Northwest Philly.

Jacob: When did you start playing piano?

Orrin: It seems like I’ve always played but I didn’t start until middle school. That’s when I got to the point where I decided this is what I want to do.

Jacob: Do you have any family history in jazz or did you just pick it up yourself?

Orrin: My uncle was a jazz saxophonist. My father just played jazz music around the house, so I was an avid listener. And my mother was a classical singer. So I grew up around music and the arts but not specifically one person who was a jazz musician. And then, you know, there’s a great jazz organist from around here who just passed away, Trudy Pitts. She was like an aunt to me.

Jacob: Did you have any favorite clubs while growing up in Philadelphia?

Orrin: There were so many but a lot of them don’t exist anymore. There was the Blue Note up here in this end of town. There was Ortlieb’s Jazzhaus, which was downtown. There was Zanzibar Blue. Early on, Chris’ wasn’t really the spot where I would hang but over about the last ten years it’s become a different place. There were tons but my favorite had always been Ortlieb’s. That was like our college, you know?

Jacob: Were there musicians at Ortlieb’s who you looked up to?

Orrin: Oh, without a doubt. I mean, people like Shirley Scott, Arthur Harper, Mickey Roker, Bobby Durham. There were tons. And the owner, Pete Souders, was always just a great teacher to the young people coming up. He told you songs that you should learn, people you should play with. It was really “Jazz 101” going into Ortlieb’s Jazzhaus.

Jacob: What would you say was distinct about the Philly jazz scene when you were growing up?

Orrin: There’s a different type of “lope” to the way in which music feels. You can tell who a Philly drummer is to a certain extent. This also depends on whether or not that person has left and been in another city for a long time. Then they may adopt some of the other cities’ sounds. But if you’ve been here long enough, there’s a certain sound – a different attack – in which the drummers play the cymbals, a different attack in the way they ride and move. That’s the lope.

Jacob: How do you feel about the current Philly jazz scene?

Orrin: It just needs to grow. Even with students. There are tons of students at, say, Temple or the University of the Arts, that I never see. The same desire to see music live doesn’t seem to exist as it did when I was younger. Everybody’s in school. They have contact with the teachers they study with so they’re like, “Well I’ve got everything I want right here.” They don’t go out and check out jazz clubs. I hate to put it like this but higher education in jazz is really affecting the grassroots mentorship that used to exist in the music.

Jacob: Higher academia has that much effect on kids?

Orrin: When I was in school, the professors weren’t the ones performing in the scene. There was some guy at so- and-so school named such-and-such, and he was a really great teacher but he wasn’t performing. Whereas now, some of those artists you see recording and touring are also teaching at a school. So as a student you’re saying, “I can just go study with him there or her at that school.” So you’re studying with your teachers but you’re not going out to see them because you’re like, “Oh, I’ll just see them on Monday.” When I was in school, in order to see them, I had to go to the gig. In order to get a gig I had to go to their gigs. I didn’t have the professor recommending me to their boy.

Jacob: I know that you’ve taught at a few schools in the Philadelphia area, correct?

Orrin: Yes, I taught at Germantown Friends School for three years. It seemed like a lot longer. I was teaching middle school and high school.

Jacob: Were you trying to get the kids to go out and listen?

Orrin: They did! That’s the funny thing – I know some of them still are. Some of those students were in sixth grade when I started and now they’re in their second year of college. A lot of them are still coming out to support the music.

Jacob: What’s your most memorable gig in Philly?

Orrin: One of my favorite gigs was playing solo piano at the Kimmel Center, which was probably in November of 2007. There were a lot of reasons that gig felt good. I remember getting down there, playing the gig, the whole thing. It was actually one of the last big concerts that I remember my mother attending before she passed away.

Jacob: You have a new album coming out this spring, correct?

Orrin: There are actually two different records. We have an album with my big band, the Captain Black Big Band, which is almost done. It’s going to be live in two cities: Philly and New York. And then I did another one with all Philly musicians. It’s a tribute to Philadelphia. We actually recorded the album before we lost some musicians and we played songs for them on the record. Both albums are being released on the Positone Records label.

Jacob: Do you consider yourself a representative for the Philadelphia jazz scene or for the city itself?

Orrin: Yeah, I do. As a musician, I grew here in Philadelphia. I’m really proud to say that I’m from Philadelphia. My goal is just to hold on to it but not to let it define me. I’m not going to be someone who only plays in Philly. I’m going to keep going whether Philly does or not. But it is a big part of who I am.

Jacob: Do you ever fear that the Philadelphia jazz scene will crumble?

Orrin: The jazz scene here will change. It will change and then it’ll change again, you know? I think more jazz musicians in Philadelphia need to get a better sense of business so that we can figure out how to maintain this scene. The problem is that so many jazz musicians here are stuck on playing jazz, which is one hundred percent important. But along with that, there’s another percentage that needs to be creating their own businesses, their entities, their identities as artists. They need to be figuring out questions like, “How many people can we fit into this club? How much are we going to charge? How much do we play for?” Basically, we need to get our business sense together.

The jazz mentality for all of these years has always been, “Oh, we can just get a gig at the club, and the club owner is going to pay us at the end of the day.”
The problem is, when that jazz club owner closes his club, what are you going to do?

 

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Jeff Krow’s Audiophile Audition review for Ralph Bowen “Power Play”…

www.audaud.com

Ralph Bowen – Power Play – Posi-Tone Records PR8073, 54:52 ****½:

(Ralph Bowen, saxophones; Orrin Evans, piano; Kenny Davis, bass; Donald Edwards, drums)

Having reviewed (and dug) Dedicated in 2009 and Due Reverence in 2010, it was with anticipation that I awaited Ralph’s new CD Power Play, just released last month on Posi-Tone. With the addition of  fast-rising pianist Orrin Evans, and due to the fact that all the tracks on Power Play were written by Ralph – with the exception of “My One and Only Love” – Power Play was eagerly anticipated by Bowen fans.

Right out of the box, Ralph is all business on the swinger, “K.D.’s Blues.” Bowen can blow either mainstream or flirt with the edge of free blowing but always stays in the pocket. Pianist Evans just keeps on showing his sparkling talents with crisp piano runs and inventive accompaniment. “Drumheller Valley” brings percussive power piano from Evans, and assertive hard driving drum work from Donald Edwards before Bowen takes center stage with strong post bop lines.

“Two-Line Pass” finds the band locked in tight and Kenny Davis’ bass work is strong in the mix, while Bowen takes off spurring his band mates on. It’s a powerful number. “My One and Only Love” is a sweet ballad and Ralph shows off his lyrical side. “Bella Firenze” also shows Bowen’s gift with melodic mood while both Evans and Davis add their instrumental mastery. Orrin has a gift that makes the listener eagerly await his next solo.

“Walleye Jigging” demonstrates the talents of producer Marc Free and engineer Nick O’Toole in continually being spot on with sound mix and superb fidelity that they bring to Posi-Tone releases. Each instrument is upfront and the bass is given air to be heard while the drums, even when strongly assertive, do not overpower the other artists.

“A Solar Romance” ends Power Play with a lovely feeling. Bowen’s quartet delivers big time. Let’s hope 2011 brings another visit from Ralph and company.

TrackList: K.D.’s Blues, Drumheller Valley, Two-Line Pass, My One and Only Love, The Good Shepherd, Bella Firenze, Jessica, Walleye Jigging, A Solar Romance

— Jeff Krow