By Dee Dee McNeil
March 1, 2024
During this month of March, I celebrate women who have chosen the music path in various areas of expertise. SUSAN ALCORN is a pedal steel guitarist and composer. SHUTEEN ENDENEBAATAR is a Mongolian jazz pianist, a composer and arranger. Classically trained vocalist, AUDREY SILVER interprets ten songs from the musical “Oklahoma.” Pianist, composer, nonagenarian, lyricist and singer, BETTY BRYANT adds humor and entertainment on her CD titled Lotta Livin,’ which seems appropriate since she’s 94 years old and still going strong. KINGA GLYK is a funky, electric bass player and vocalist. Her album is smokin’ hot with smooth jazz! AMANDA KING is featured on the ROB DIXON/STEVE ALLEE QUINTET album and CORINA BARTRA is the Artistic Director of the Afro Peruvian New Trends Orchestra, also the composer/arranger of the orchestra. Finally, Southern California based vocalist, JULIE KELLY, produced by a female jazz producer, BARBARA BRIGHTON, offers us “Freedom Jazz Dance.” Below is my opinion on what I hear from these talented individuals. Finally, the LORI BELL QUARTET pays tribute to the iconic Joe Henderson.
SUSAN ALCORN & SEPTETO DEL SUR – “CANTO” – Relative Pitch Records
Susan Alcorn, pedal steel guitar/composer; Luis “ToTo” Alvarez, guitar; Claudio “Pajaro” Araya, drums/cuatro; Francisco “Pancho” Araya, charango/quena; Rodrigo Bobadilla, flute/quena/zampoña/guitar/vocals; Amanda Irazzabal, double bass/vocals; Danka Villanueva, violin/vocals.
Susan Alcorn’s music reminds me of a historic, handsewn quilt. She selectively combines the music of contemporary classical, country/folk, and Latin culture with modern jazz and the improvisational freedom it inspires. Thus, we have layers of creative musical arrangements that reflect colorful, cultural music. In her press package, it tells me she was inspired by travels to Chile where she discovered the “Nueva Cancion” movement. It was a government provoked resistance, that locked hands with her dedication to community social justice. She has included an original song by the legendary Chilean composer and folk singer, Victor Jara. All the other songs on this album were composed by Alcorn, who first became interested in Chilean culture and music when she visited Chile in 2003. She met people who shared stories of activists, former exiles, and even concentration camp survivors of the Pinochet regime. That’s how Susan Alcorn was introduced to Nueva Cancion music.
Susan Alcorn, the Baltimore-based, pedal steel guitar player, has carefully chosen the players within her ‘Septeto Del Sur’ group. They form a cross-generational group of talented musicians. “Canto” is the realization of pealing back the covers of Chilean history to unveil the country’s songs that documented their tragic history.
“It was an interesting time, because the coup and dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet had left a giant wound in the Chilean psyche that has still not healed,” Alcorn shared.
You will see above that Alcorn has included traditional instruments such as the quena and charango in this production. Those instruments were banned in Chile, as was the protest music of ‘Canto’ sung and played by Nueva Cancion Chilean artists. The composer and singer, Victor Jara, was brutally murdered by the Chilean police. In this music by Susan Alcorn, she weaves these stories of protest and brutality throughout her songs. They flow like a salty water suite of music, moving from “Canto 1. Donde Estan” (referring to the missing persons who disappeared at the hands of the Pinochet regime) to “Canto II. Presente: Sueno de Luna Azul” (a chant often sung by Chileans as an ode to the lost or missing loved ones) to “Canto III. Lukax.” This is a dedication to political prisoner, Lukax Santana.
Alcorn’s music is softened by the violin and flute solos by Danka Villanueva and Rodrigo Bobadilla. But there is always an undercurrent of violence with startling, unexpected explosions of music and improvised sounds. Supported by great musicians like Luis “Toto” Alvarez on guitar, known for his improviser skills, Alcorn’s music reflects the tragedy of war and suppression with tempo changes and creative musical passages. Both Araya brothers, who add drums and Andean flute to the mix are from Northern Chile. They add authenticity lending their Andean folk music roots.
This is lovely, thought-provoking music. Susan Alcorn uses her pedal steel guitar and musical comrades to stitch her truth, like beautiful, but bloody threads through this fabric of musical history. We may cover ourselves with her music, warm as a colorful quilt that sadly lays across the lap of tragedy to document man’s inhumanity to man.
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SHUTEEN ENDENEBAATAR QUARTET – “RISING SUN” – Motema Music
Shuteen Erdenebaatar, piano/composer/arranger; Nils Kugelmann, bass; Valentin Renner, drums; Anton Mangold, soprano & alto saxophones/flute.
Mongolian jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, Shuteen Erdenebaatar is twenty-five years young and is the rising star from Mongolia’s capital of Utaanbaatar. In 2023, she had already garnered an armload of of impressive awards on the European jazz scene. To list just a few, she won the music Scholarship of the City of Munich, the Young Munich Jazz Prize, the Kurt Maas Jazz Award, the Biberach Jazz Prize and the BMW Young Artist Jazz Award. This, her debut recording, announces her talent to the world. Track #2, “Ups and Downs” brings to mind the early exploration of Herbie Hancock’s piano talents when he was blending Straight-ahead and abstract jazz. Shuteen’s third composition, “Summer Haze” is presented solo piano as a sweet ballad. It’s quite beautiful, featuring her technique & creativity. “Olden Days” invites her band back to the production, with Anton Mangold using soprano saxophone to unveil the lovely melody Endenebaatar has composed. Using flute to change the complexion of the music, on the tune “An Answer From a Distant Hill” also features the drums of Valentin Renner with the reed instrument dancing on top. When Nils Kugelmann enters on bass, I find him quite interesting and musically expressive. When Shuteen’s strong piano powerfully blasts onto the scene, the music moves from smooth jazz to Straight-ahead. The pianist takes her time, building her solo slowly and precisely. She has an inspiring way of lighting the fire beneath her band members and taking her songs from tender to crescendo in leaps and bounds. The title song, “Rising Sun” could very well be significant of Shuteen Endenebaatar herself. Here is a rising talent to watch as she climbs to higher heights, growing from a whisper to a lion’s roar.
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AUDREY SILVER – “OKLAHOMA” – Messy House Records
Audrey Silver, vocals/Native American flute; Bruce Barth, piano; Peter Bernstein, guitar; Adam Kolker, alto flute/bass clarinet; Kahlil Kwame Bell, percussion; Sarah Zun & Adda Kridler, violins; Kaya Bryla, viola; Maria Jeffers, cello.
A wind blows across my listening space. It sounds like a cold winter wind, until a Native American flute warms the mood. It’s Audrey Silver on flute and projecting the song “Oklahoma” from the musical of the same title. Since childhood, this has always been one of her favorite musical soundtracks, a record she and her father adored. This love of musical plays and films developed into an appreciation of the Great American Songbook. Many songs from that American collection of great composers became reworked and improvised into great jazz standards. On this latest recording, Silver’s fifth record release, she interprets ten songs from that Oklahoma show. Her goal was to present them as a jazz-inspired tribute to the iconic musical. Using voice, guitar and piano for her core group, she added strings to give the project a jazz chamber musical attitude. She, along with guitarist Peter Bernstein, and pianist Bruce Barth on the piano, offer an arrangement on the tune “Many A New Day” that’s intended to ‘swing.’ Silver sings it perfectly, but it doesn’t ‘swing.’ As the other song follow, the challenge remains the same.
Audrey Silver was trained as a classical pianist and cellist. She also loved singing and at Brown University she co-founded a jazz a ‘cappella group. Her bio says that she has studied with Shelia Jordan and Mark Murphy, performed at some of New York’s respected jazz clubs and other various music venues. The thing that perplexes me is her inability to ‘let go’ and improvise or to ‘swing’ the music. These two things are absolutely necessary to claim the title of jazz singer. However, she is a solid cabaret vocalist, with good pitch, a pleasing tone and perfect enunciation. That being said, the publicity that places this album and these Rodgers and Hammerstein arrangements into the jazz category I find a bit presumptuous. In order to label music ‘jazz’ you have to exemplify a blues base, an ability to ‘swing’ and the freedom to improvise. When I hear Emmet Cohen’s trio play “Surrey with the Fringe on Top” that’s jazz! When Blossom Dearie or Frank Sinatra sing the same song, or Miles Davis plays the famous tune, that’s jazz. Even though arranger, Bruce Barth has employed a jazzy five-eight time to the piece, it still lacks jazz authenticity. Audrey Silver had a great idea, but somehow this production falls short of expectations. Perhaps Ella Fitzgerald said it best when, in 1957 when she sang, “It Don’t Mean a Thing if It Ain’t Got that Swing.”
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BETTY BRYANT – “LOTTA LIVIN’” – Independent label
Betty Bryant, piano/vocals/composer; Robert Kyle, tenor saxophone/flute/harmonica/producer; Richard Simon, acoustic bass; Kenny Elliott, drums; Tony Guerrero, trumpet; Hussain Jiffry, electric bass; Kleber Jorge, guitar; Yu “Big Poppa” Ooka, guitar; Kevin Winard, percussion.
The title of this Betty Bryant album is quite appropriate. Lotta Livin’ expresses her silky-smooth ability to live a full and creative life for the past ninety-four years, dedicating the majority of that time to music. Her Kansas City, Missouri soulful and bluesy piano playing, along with her unique vocalizing, was influenced greatly by her friend and jazz legend, Jay McShann. In fact, a famous photograph of Betty with Jay McShann and a group of other musicians hangs in the lobby of the Kansas City American Jazz Museum. The same brown-tone photo is pictured on the back of this recent CD booklet that accompanies her album. She is a Kansas City living-legend!
In Southern California and to her close friends, Betty Bryant is known as “The Cool Miss B.” That was a name gifted to her by her longtime friend, musician, and record producer, Robert Kyle. In 1997, Kyle dubbed her ‘Cool Miss B’ in a song. That sweet nickname has stuck with her over two and a half decades. It completely describes Betty, with her laid-back attitude, her tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, husky voice, and her complete command of the 88-keys. Everything about Betty Bryant is cool, tasteful, and always tinged with a warm sense of humor. Bryant is an awesome composer of music and lyrics, many that are quite humorous.
Bryant moved to Southern California in 1955 with a gig handed down to her by the late, great Earl Grant. They were friends back in Kansas City. Betty had been wanting to move away from home and when the pianist offered her a gig at his club, she gladly accepted. Her blues roots shine on this album, as she plays familiar blues tunes like “Stormy Monday” always adding her own inimitable take on the tune, with an arrangement that freshens an old blues standard and establishes her mastery and individual style on the piano. When Kyle enters on his silky, soulful saxophone I am transported to a smokey juke joint with slow-dancers hugged up, bodies pressed against each other in the rock-gut blues his horn blows all over the room. I love her renditions and arrangements of the jazz standards, like her breathy take on “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” and Latin tinged arrangement on “The Very Thought of You,” but where she truly shines is when she sings her own original compositions. “Katydid” is another humorous, melodic and lyrically brilliant tune that Betty Bryant has penned to both stun and entertain us. I never figured out what ‘Katy did’ but we know it was something bizarre and we listen intently to Bryant’s story, in hopes of uncovering the secret. You see, this song, “Katydid” is not about insects, but rather about what Katy did.
The intention is perfectly clear when Bryant plays piano and sings. Her voice is rich with the lessons of life she’s learned on a journey of nine plus decades. There is truth and honesty in each lyric sung and each note played. Clearly, Betty Bryant has a Lotta Livin’ still to do, and she’s having a ball while she does it.
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KINGA GLYK – REAL LIFE – Warner Bros Records
Kinga Glyk, electric bass/vocals/producer/composer; Brett Williams, Keyboard/composer; Julian Pollack, Caleb McCampbell & Nicholas Semrad, keyboards; Robert “Sput” Searight, drums/composer; Casey Benjamin, aerophone/ composer; Michael League, co-producer/composer/keyboards/ fretless baritone electric guitar/electric sitar.
The first composition on this recording is “Fast Life” and features Kinga Glyk’s electric bass and her vocals. Together, these two talents set a groove in motion that is both fresh and inspired. The keyboard solo of Brett Williams establishes the melody, and this listener is swept up in the electronic excitement of this band. Robert “Sput” Searight uses power-packed trap drums to spur this fusion jazz ahead, much like the whip on a horse’s tail. Searight also introduces us to Track #2, called “Unfollower” with his percussive skills. Kinga Glyk is a terrific composer and one of Poland’s rising stars. She has penned or co-written every song on this album and her talent is impressive. This music represents a combination of smooth jazz and fusion that twists and turns, braiding its way across my listening room with groove after groove. A song called “Who Cares” was a collaboration between Glyk and co-producer Michael League. It’s a great tune with lots of energy and excitement. Kinga Glyk steps stage center on her electric bass and makes a bold statement, ending the tune with her instrument acting as an exclamation mark. “Island” is a pretty ballad with an other-worldly arrangement that makes me feel as though I’m floating above ground. The use of several keyboards and electronic effects lifts this production and takes it to a very artsy level. This tune puts me in the mood for a deep tissue massage. It’s that kind of subtle, unobtrusive production that you might hear during a spa day. I was interested in hearing the two songs that Kinga Glyk composed without collaborating. The first is called “Not Real” and features her funky, but melodic style. The second is titled “Unseen Bruises” and this composition is a brief ballad that sounds like an interlude and lasts only a minute and thirty seconds. Afterall, who wants to spend a lot of time concentrating on hidden bruises? This is music that reminds me of spaceships, time travel and futuristic things. It scratches the surface of dreams and travel, with propelled electronics that whisk the listener away to places we have yet to explore. It’s Kinga Glyk’s serious funk driven bass that makes this music pop and dance. You really hear her power and punch on the Michael League composition called, “That Right There.” It’s a killer tune and arrangement. Following that song, Glyk offers us a tune called “Funny Bunny” that’s humorous and significant, but only mere seconds long, like a wink or a giggle. Kinga Glyk speaks to us with music, tasteful, modern, space-agey and unique. This is an album and an artist to watch as she soars forward, upward, and beyond.
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SYLVIA BROOKS – “SYLVIA BROOKS LIVE WITH CHRISTIAN JACOB” – Rhombus Records
Sylvia Brooks, vocals; Christian Jacob, piano; David Hughes, bass; Kevin Kanner, drums; David Witham, keyboards/accordion; Jeff Bunnell, trumpet/flugelhorn; Brian Scanlon, tenor saxophone/flute.
Chanteuse, Sylvia Brooks uses her soprano range to interpret two fists full of American Songbook standards. Recorded ‘live’ at Herb Alpert’s popular restaurant and jazz club called, ‘Vibrato’ in the Los Angele area, Brooks has paired her talent with Musical Director and pianist, Christian Jacob. The audience’s applause and support is palpable. Her emotional delivery engages them, and Brooks knows how to tell stories with her tone and attitude. Surrounded by six capable musicians, two who provide a rich horn section that sufficiently colors these arrangements, Brooks presents her strong cabaret voice. She has a tone that lends itself to the Broadway stage and she could easily be the star of a musical play. Opening with a dramatic arrangement on “When the Sun Come Out” that’s full of horn harmonics and a bluesy piano provided by Christian Jacob, Brooks infuses drama into these lyrics. Her rendition of this song is reminiscent of Barbara Streisand’s recording back in 1963 or the famous Judy Garland recording of the same in 1958. Helen O’Connell’s unforgettable presentation of this song comes to mind when she introduced this torch song to the public back in 1941. Brooks has a voice that’s similar to these stylized singers, none of whom referred to themselves as jazz singers.
Brooks follows this tune with another sexy torchy song, the popular “Blues in the Night.” Both songs were met with much audience appreciation. She puts her own spin on “Guess Who I Saw Today?” that was originally written for a Broadway musical revue called “New Faces of 1952.” It became a jazz standard because of the Nancy Wilson rendition in 1960.
Brooks inserts an instrumental in her show, that features her pianist and MD on “The Red Pig Flew Up the Hill” with Brian Scanlon sounding gorgeous on tenor saxophone and Jeff Bunnell featured on a well-played trumpet solo. This instrumental ensemble brings ‘the jazz’ to this project. Brooks re-enters with a duet, she and Christian Jacob present called, “The Flea Markets of Paris.” The addition of David Witham on accordion adds a Parisienne flavor to the Jacob arrangement. Sylvia’s lovely voice tells the story, with perfect enunciation and believability. Next comes the band’s swinging rendition of “Cold Cold Heart.” The band ‘swings’ but the vocalist does not. That’s a problem if you claim rights to the jazz singer title. The arrangement on “Night and Day” could have been raised up a step, making it more suitable to her extraordinary range. However, on “Tender Trap” Brooks shines. “Holding Back Tears” is a pop arrangement that she sings beautifully. Sylvia Brooks closes with “Come Rain or Come Shine”, and these are the type of belting burlesque songs that she seems to gravitate towards, and she always powerfully delivers.
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ROB DIXON/STEVE ALLEE QUINTET featuring AMANDA KING & DERRICK GARDNER – “STANDARDS DELUXE” – Independent Label
Rob Dixon, tenor & soprano saxophone; Steve Allee, piano; Amanda King, vocals; Nick Tucker, bass; Greg Artry & Kenny Phelps, drums; Derrick Gardner, trumpet.
This quintet embraces the lovely vocals of Amanda King on familiar standard jazz tunes like “Love for Sale” and “Caravan.” She does a wonderful job of swinging both tunes, enunciating each lyric with casual precision and selling the song lyrics. On the Caravan composition, Rob Dixon plays his soprano saxophone and on Love for Sale he switches to a gutsy solo improvisation on his tenor saxophone. Both sax solos are impressive. After Dixon solos, Steve Allee tinkles the piano to invite Amanda King back to the party once more. They slow their roll on “the Very Thought of You” where she presents her interpretation of this favorite. She appears with just a trio at first. On verse two, Dixon re-enters the picture and tastefully accompanies the vocalist on saxophone.
Amanda began her career in showbusiness as an actress in Louisville, KY, then switched to singing in 2000. Once she moved to the San Francisco Bay area, Amanda King found success in recording and stage work. She made a big splash in Northern California with her one-woman show, “It’s About Damn Time!” This was followed by another show met with positive reviews and great acclaim, “Chanteuse.” It soon became the title of her CD release in 2008, featuring a Bay Area trio. In 2018, she released a holiday EP, co-produced by Barry Manilow’s musical director, Joey Melotti, featuring some of Las Vegas’s finest musicians. That same season, she opened the show, “Ella Fitzgerald: A Centennial Celebration” in the Venetian Room of the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, alongside Lillias White, Freda Payne, Sony Holland & Janis Siegal. She has also performed as the title character ‘Queenie’ in the Oakland Opera Theater’s rendition of Duke Ellington’s incomplete and rarely performed jazz opera, “Queenie Pie.”
Amanda King is brightly featured on this new album along with the Rob Dixon and Steve Allee Quintet. This woman has taken all her talents and combined them to become an in-demand vocalist and actress across the country. In February of 2024, the Dixon/Allee Quintet album became available. It’s a winner!
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ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: CORINA BARTRA presents AFRO PERUVIAN NEW TRENDS ORCHESTRA – “COSMIC SYNCHRONICITIES” – Blue Spiral Records
Corina Bartra, Artistic Director/composer/arranger; Santiago Belgrano & Holman Alvarez Davila, piano; Ben Willis, bass; Juan Carlos Polo, drums; Pedro Diaz, Peruvian cajon/conga; Dave Morgan, tenor saxophone; Cecilia Tenconi, & Marvin Carter, alto saxophone; Roger Garcia & Eli Asher, trumpet; Erick Storckman, trombone.
Corina Bartra is a Peruvian vocalist, composer, arranger. and Artistic Director of the Afro Peruvian New Trends Orchestra. She has put together an orchestra of worldclass musicians from all over the globe, including some from her current home in New York City and including Brazilian and Cuban instrumentalists. Ms. Bartra was the first vocalist to blend Afro Peruvian music with jazz and Criolla music. Criolla is a Peruvian music that embraces influences from Africa, Europe, and Andean music. She is a pioneer in this fusion of Latin music, South American culture, and jazz. She holds degrees in jazz percussion and a master’s in vocal performance. In 2008, Corina was a recipient of the Queens Council of the Arts Award.
By forming the Peruvian New Trends Orchestra, Bartra creates a vehicle for her melodic and original music to be heard and an opportunity for the world to be introduced to Peruvian rhythms and culture. Her songs are mixed into a stew of American jazz, African roots and the originality of her composing merits. She has written nine of the eleven songs on this album, beginning with a composition titled “Ecstasy Green” that features satin smooth horn lines that sing the beautiful melody Corina has penned. Soon a saxophone solo steps into the spotlight and brings a feeling of Straight-ahead jazz, with the Latin percussion raging beneath. It sounds more like a suite of music than a single song, with many mood changes and rhythmic tempos that bring surprises every sixteen bars or so.
“Palmero Siguayayay” is a traditional Peruvian folk song with the drums pushing the tune forward like a band of marching musicians. The lovely tune called “Osiris” shows how much this Latin music has woven its way into the jazz idiom. It also reminds me how melodic Corina Bartra is when she composes. The bass line sings it’s way into my heart, and the percussion instruments nail in place the Peruvian culture. Still, the song is arranged in such a way that it becomes quite contemporary.
This album is adventurous, exciting, and full of Latin culture and jazzy roots. It’s like an exotic flower blooming for the world to hear, to see, to touch, and smell. The scent of this music is rich and spicy. It combines cultures like a gorgeous bouquet or an expensive centerpiece. This Afro Peruvian New Trends Orchestra invites the world to come to their table, sit down and enjoy the tasty experience. Bravo Corina Bartra!
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JULIE KELLY – “FREEDOM JAZZ DANCE” – Laurelwood Records
Julie Kelly, vocals/guitar; Josh Nelson, piano/keyboard; Larry Koonse, guitar; Luca Alemanno, bass; Dan Schnelle, drums; Aaron Serfaty, percussion; Danny Janklow, alto saxophone/flute; Andrew Synowiec, guitar.
Julie Kelly grew up in Oakland, California, a city in the San Francisco area. She and her twin sister, Kate, loved music and sang in their Catholic School choir. The two formed a folk singing act in the 1960s and worked the coffee house circuit. They even opened for Peter, Paul, and Mary. Meantime, she was listening to jazz, blues, and gospel.
“When I was thirteen, I was listening to Thelonius Monk, John Coltrane, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, as well as Dave Brubeck, and those wonderful albums with Miles Davis and Gil Evans. It wasn’t long before I was sneaking into clubs in Oakland to hear people like Earl “Fatha” Hines. The Blues is what guides me, and the great ones have shown the way,” Julie Kelly says in her online bio.
But before she had crossed that vocal threshold of jazz, in 1971 Kelly packed a backpack and her guitar, like a hippie she and a friend took buses and boats down the Amazon landing in Rio de Janeiro. There, Kelly developed a great love of Brazilian music.
On this album she sings “A Ra” which translates to “The Frog” with the wonderful accompaniment of Josh Nelson on piano, who also co-produced this album. Impressively, Kelly sings in Portuguese. I was surprised to hear her interpret a Gregory Porter tune, “Take Me to the Alley.” That was no easy feat. The tune is very beautiful, quite spiritual, and has a challenging melody. Julie Kelly did it her way.
In 1984, she released her debut album on Pausa Records called “We’re On Our Way” and this is the voice I remember.
I also recall hearing Julie on her album “Kelly Sings Christy” and enjoying her “Never Let Me Go” album. Her voice is no longer the powerhouse it used to be, but she still knows how to tell a story with her songs. She is emotional and honest. I can appreciate that. Barbara Brighton, Kelly’s old friend, produced this album. Brighton is a very fine producer, who also produced Kelly’s former album release called, “Happy to Be.” Julie Kelly has always known how to choose and interpret songs with lyrics she believes in and melodies that are unique and lovely. For instance, her take on the Sting tune, “Practical Arrangement” is striking and reflects vulnerability. The guitar additions of Larry Koonse and Andrew Synowiec on this project lend sensitive beauty. Kelly was co-writer on “River People” a song composed with memories of her trip down the Amazon. Her folk roots become apparent when she chooses the Gordon Lightfoot tune, “Early Morning Rain.” The Brazilian arrangement on “Hello Like Before” is wonderful.
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LORI BELL QUARTET – “RECORDA ME: REMEMBERING JOE HENDERSON” – Independent Label
Lori Bell, C flute/alto flute/composer; Josh Nelson, piano; David Robaire, bass; Dan Schnelle, drums.
Lori Bell has consistently produced amazing music over her decades-long career. She is an accomplished composer, arranger, educator, and musician who has made her mark in jazz playing the flute. This tribute recording grew out of her admiration for the iconic tenor saxophonist, Joe Henderson (April 24, 1937, to June 30, 2001).
In the 1950s, Henderson was very active in this journalist’s hometown of Detroit, Michigan. I wonder if the talented Ms. Lori Bell knows that while Henderson was attending Wayne State University, he studied flute and bass. It was later that he developed his skills on saxophone under the tutelage of Larry Teal. Some of his college comrades were Donald Byrd, Barry Harris and Yusef Lateef. I bet, since Joe Henderson was also a lover of flute, he would have enjoyed this Lori Bell homage to his music and legacy.
Bell opens with “Isotope,” a tune Henderson recorded in 1964 on his album, “Inner Urge.” His drummer was Elvin Jones, with McCoy Tyner on piano and Bob Cranshaw manning the bass. Bell has contracted Josh Nelson on piano, David Robaire on bass, and Dan Schnelle on drums. She introduces this tune with her a ‘Capella flute skipping across space. Enter Schnelle on drums and after a short and happy introduction, Nelson and Robaire join the duo. Nelson has a piano conversation with Bell’s flighty flute. They sound like two souls speaking joyfully to each other. The Henderson ‘breaks’ in his arrangement are evident during Bell’s performance. However, Lori is a fluid improviser who creates her own mood and mastery during this creative production.
“On this recording I have tried to pay homage to his (Henderson’s) musical acumen and articulate imagination. Each arrangement is tailored for the timbre and range of the flute, an unusual instrument to represent Joe Henderson as, unlike the majority of sax players, he rarely played it in public and was not known as a doubler. Joe was an exceptional jazz saxophonist and to my heart and mind, a persuasive composer besides. I’ve always admired his artistry and the way he crafted his songs. His unique chord progressions, and use of the major7th #11 on several tunes, are compelling to me,” says Bell in her press package.
Bell takes a more Avant-garde approach to Henderson’s compositions, with her flute leading the band like a determined sea gull. She dives and dips across space, with Nelson often following her lead and repeating Bell’s creative melodic phrases on piano. While playing the composition, “A Shade of Jade” both instruments sound like birds playfully cruising across the sky. This tune was originally released on Blue Note Records with an all-star group including Curtis Fuller, Bobby Hutcherson, Cedar Walton, Ron Carter and Joe Chambers.
Bell’s ensemble sounds more modern jazz and less Straight-ahead, until they play “Out of the Night.” That’s when they capture the straight-ahead jazz-groove I enjoy so much. To my ears, that one captures the heart of Joe Henderson. Soaked in minor blues, they attack the mood and the moment, led by a tenacious, solid bassline played by Robaire. When Lori enters on flute, she is bebop magnificent, creative, and awe-inspiring. Lori is followed fearlessly by Nelson’s impressive piano solo. At this point, I am completely hypnotized by the Lori Bell Quartet and impressed by their own sense of artistry.
Bell has picked eight Henderson compositions to expand upon. Dan Schnelle is featured on “Inner Urge” boldly showing his drum skills that sparkle as brilliant as the spotlight. Bell takes a different path on this tune, modernizing the pretty piece with Schenelle’s drums infusing a surprising nod to the Hip Hop genre.
On “Black Narcissus,” Nelson sets the mood beautifully, stroking the piano keys with sensuous arpeggios. This song was originally on Joe Henderson’s “Power to the People” album that featured Jack de Johnette, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Mike Lawrence. Lori Bell brings her alto flute to the party, and it’s warm and comforting as she caresses the Henderson melody.
Bell has penned one original composition for this album tribute titled “Outer Urge” that explores various tempos, moving fluidly from 4/4 to 7/4 and then skipping to 5/4. The final tune and the title tune remind this listener of Joe Henerson’s powerful and popular recording that almost every jazz band has played at one time or another. “Recorda Me” is re-harmonized by Bell, using Henderson’s original bass line and repurposing the tune to feature Lori’s own sense of improvisation and creativity.
This is an adventurous project that both stimulates and inspires. While Bell tributes a great master of the past, she also spotlights herself, a young mistress of the future. This album will be available April 19, 2024 and her CD release party will take place at Sam’s First on April 25th, in Los Angeles.
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