Among newer little-labels-that-could, DC’s Jimmy Gray is crafting the beginnings of a nice recorded legacy with his Black Fire label. Joining such treats as a live Hamiet Bluiett date is this latest edition from Philly multi-reedman Byard Lancaster. Given a distinctive African air, My Pure Joy is delivered in highly spirited fashion by a cast that includes the leader on flute, piccolo, alto sax, piano, and soprano sax. He is joined by keyboards, guitar (which at one point lends an eerie ’60s feel- kind of neo-Sonny Sharrock-to the proceedings), no fewer than six percussionists, plus the Tunde Kyoboye Drummers from Ibadan. They give voice to a program of 11 largely original compositions. Hey Jimmy, how about a little more clarity on the graphics next time. – Willard Jenkin
Originally PublishedRelated Posts
Sonny Terry/Brownie McGhee: Backwater Blues
Start Your Free Trial to Continue Reading
Become a JazzTimes member to explore our complete archive of interviews, profiles, columns, and reviews written by music’s best journalists and critics.
Jonathan Butler: The Simple Life
Jonathan Butler’s optimistic music belies a dirt-poor childhood growing up in a South Africa segregated by apartheid. Live in South Africa, a new CD and DVD package, presents a sense of the resulting inner turmoil, mixed with dogged resolve, that paved the way to his status as an icon in his country and successful musician outside of it. Looking back, the 46-year-old Butler says today, the driving forces that led to his overcoming apartheid-the formal policy of racial separation and economic discrimination finally dismantled in 1993-were family, faith and abundant talent.
“When we were kids, our parents never talked about the ANC [African National Congress] or Nelson Mandela,” he says. Butler was raised as the youngest child in a large family. They lived in a house patched together by corrugated tin and cardboard, in the “coloreds only” township of Athlone near Cape Town. “They never talked about struggles so we never knew what was happening.”
Start Your Free Trial to Continue Reading
Become a JazzTimes member to explore our complete archive of interviews, profiles, columns, and reviews written by music’s best journalists and critics.
Harry Connick, Jr.: Direct Hits
Two decades after his commercial breakthrough, Harry Connick Jr. taps legendary producer Clive Davis for an album of crooner roots and beloved tunes
Scott LaFaro
Previously unavailable recordings and a new bio illuminate the legend of bassist Scott LaFaro