Willard Jenkins
Willard’s Contributions
June 2000 Albums
Swingin' the Blues
Claude "Fiddler" Williams
Anyone who's seen Bruce Ricker's classic film Last of the Blue Devils vividly recalls its images of Count Basie, Joe Turner, Buster Smith, Jay McShann and a swinging cast of hundreds. And, oh yeah, how about that swinging fiddle man. For some, that film...
May 2000 Albums
Ballad Session
Mark Turner
It takes fortitude to buck convention, which suggests that an entire program of ballads just won't make it in these swift, dot-com times. Fortitude, a bucket of self-assurance and a kind of quiet confidence in one's instrumental abilities and session mates...
May 2000 Albums
Wandering Moon
Terence Blanchard
Anyone expecting Terence Blanchard to rest on his laurels, comfortably ensconced in the lucrative world of motion picture scoring, better think again. Though his abiding interest in film scoring is evidenced by his continuing ascension to the A list of the...
May 2000 Albums
Grown Folks Bizness
Orrin Evans Trio
Evans' confidence and facility are evident in the range of material and challenges he sets for himself on Grown Folks Bizness, and in his impressive use of open space. His solo "Rocking Chair" injects some gentle stride and slightly dissonant chords in an...
May 2000 Albums
In the Blink of an Eye
Sam Yahel
Sam Yahel, as he did at the Monk Competition, appeals as a reflective, mature artist with a good sense of his skills and a tangible level of control. Take his tender version of "Spring Is Here", or the relaxed (not languid) approach to Freddie Hubbard's...
May 2000 Albums
Back to Stay
Ralph Peterson
Drummer dates can be hazardous to anyone for whom bombast and over-drumming are anathema. The raw power and spirit of Ralph Peterson remain admirable qualities. That impetuousness has also been a drawback at times as past times suggested a tendency to steamroll...
May 2000 Albums
The Unity
Adonis Rose
With Adonis Rose, Miles Davis' mid-'60s quintet is the touchstone. The title stems what is essentially a Nicholas Payton quintet date with flipping the leadership script to the drummer. Payton's sumptuous skills are served up in heaping portions. He is joined...
May 2000 Albums
The Crossing
Sylvia Cuenca
Sylvia Cuenca's resume runs from the Vienna Art Orchestra to Clark Terry's drummer of choice. Her impressive drive coupled with finesse has brightened numerous bandstands, though due in part to jazz's stilted sexual politics her skills aren't as widely recognized...
May 2000 Albums
Pocket Brass Band
Ray Anderson
Ray Anderson tailgates down to New Orleans with this edition of his Pocket Brass Band, a brass band in miniature. He's pared down the traditional brass band instrumentation to himself, Matt Perrine on sousaphone, trumpeter Lew Soloff and the adroit, versatile...
April 2000 Albums
In the Spirit of John Coltrane
Sonny Fortune
A native of Philadelphia, where John Coltrane grew immeasurably as a musician, Sonny Fortune is one of those relentless, tireless saxophone improvisers who fell under the spell of Trane early and has manifested that spirit throughout his career. Inspired...
March 2000 Hearsay
Jimmy Greene
Tenor saxophonist Jimmy Greene was narrowly edged out of the top prize at the Thelonious Monk Competition in ’97 despite musical dexterity and a large sound befitting the Hartford native’s big frame. Evidence of Greene’s talents emerged on his recorded debut...
January/February 2000 Albums
Nick @ Night
Nicholas Payton
Payton delivers a program of largely originals, spiced by two additions from the band (Tim Warfield, saxes; Anthony Wonsey, piano; Reuben Rogers, bass; Adonis Rose, drums) and the surprise inclusion of Maurice White's pop-jazz classic "Sun Goddess." This...
January/February 2000 Albums
Live at the Blue Note
Irvin Mayfield Sextet
Irvin's band is enriched by the always complimentary Eric Reed on piano, and his frontline sound is capacious with the addition of Wes Anderson's alto sax and Delfeayo Marsalis' trombone. One thing that plagues Mayfield's date is its somewhat pedestrian...
January/February 2000 Albums
Listen
Will Smith Quartet and Company
Will Smith is a big-boned tenor saxophonist, augmented by occasional soprano, out of Washington, DC, who is yet another in a continuing line of promising players from the jazz program at Howard University. A note of caution: you may find it necessary to...
January/February 2000 Albums
Double Duke
Joe Temperley
Scanning the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra personnel one spots a distinguished looking gray hair in the baritone sax chair amidst the flowering jazz youth. Wisdom and experience are especially welcome in such a key chair in any orchestra, and in this case...
January/February 2000 Albums
Mr. Jelly Lord: Standard Time Vol. 6
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis appears to have been as prolific a recording studio denizen as was his late mentor, Miles Davis. So apparently overcrowded are the Columbia vaults with Marsalis sessions that Wynton is concluding an unprecedented blitz of seven recordings...
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