RALPH PETERSON & THE MESSENGER LEGACY - Onward & Upward
Onyx 0011
Joanne Backeen, Zaccal Curtis, Anthony Wonsey (piano) Steve Davis, Robin Eubanks (trombone) Kevin Eubanks (guitar) Bill Pierce, Jean Toussaint (tenor sax) Craig Handy (alto sax) Phillip Harper, Brian Lynch ( trumpet) Essiet Essiet, Lonnie Plaxico, Melissa Slocum, Peter Washington (bass) Reinaldo DeJesus (percussion) Ralph Peterson (leader & drums) Recorded Brooklyn NY, March 7th and 8th, 2020.
When Art Blakey died in 1990 Dave Gelly wrote in the obituary that appeared in The Observer , “Art Blakey’s finishing school for promising young musicians……….finally shut up shop last Tuesday with the death of its proprietor. No one can take over because no-one has the faintest idea how he made it work.” Gelly is certainly correct in the sense that Blakey, was no longer `directing the traffic` as he used to put it, but the energetic and assertive `Jazz Messengers` house style he pioneered lives on the musical gene pool of those talented youngsters – now in their prime of life- who graduated from his tutelage and today form part of the influential `Messenger` alumna.
Ralph Peterson, one time `Young Lion` of the New York hard -bop scene, a powerful drummer who has led many bands and projects that have curated the Blakey ethos, heads up a series of sextets -and one quintet-drawn from the musicians who populated iterations of The Messengers that flourished in Art’s final decade and produced such fine albums as `New York Scene` and `Chippin’ In`. Added to these are a couple of highly talented younger generation musicians who Peterson describes as `Legacy Messengers` given their commitment to the genre. Pianist Zaccal Curtis is the one to put your money on.
Unlike his first album in this vein -`Legacy Alive` - Peterson eschews the familiar Blakey repertoire in favour of original material composed by himself and those participating in the project; all the tunes displaying that timeless quality that has made hard-bop one of the most stimulating and enduring jazz forms. Slick ensemble passages bearing infectious melodic riffs and themes resolve into spirited solo choruses and jousting instrumental dialogues driven and prodded by Peterson’s propulsive drumming. But it’s not all storm and stress, there is sufficient variety in terms of texture and tempi to keep the ear engaged and the mind absorbed. Nor is The Messenger Legacy a conventionally derivative tribute band: true, the sound echoes Blakey and Messengers in their various manifestations but the individual contributions are contemporary and fresh minted proving that the legacy is breathing life into a living tradition which, to quote the master, is still capable of, `washing away the dust of everyday life` Boy, was the need ever more urgent!
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
Onyx 0011
Joanne Backeen, Zaccal Curtis, Anthony Wonsey (piano) Steve Davis, Robin Eubanks (trombone) Kevin Eubanks (guitar) Bill Pierce, Jean Toussaint (tenor sax) Craig Handy (alto sax) Phillip Harper, Brian Lynch ( trumpet) Essiet Essiet, Lonnie Plaxico, Melissa Slocum, Peter Washington (bass) Reinaldo DeJesus (percussion) Ralph Peterson (leader & drums) Recorded Brooklyn NY, March 7th and 8th, 2020.
When Art Blakey died in 1990 Dave Gelly wrote in the obituary that appeared in The Observer , “Art Blakey’s finishing school for promising young musicians……….finally shut up shop last Tuesday with the death of its proprietor. No one can take over because no-one has the faintest idea how he made it work.” Gelly is certainly correct in the sense that Blakey, was no longer `directing the traffic` as he used to put it, but the energetic and assertive `Jazz Messengers` house style he pioneered lives on the musical gene pool of those talented youngsters – now in their prime of life- who graduated from his tutelage and today form part of the influential `Messenger` alumna.
Ralph Peterson, one time `Young Lion` of the New York hard -bop scene, a powerful drummer who has led many bands and projects that have curated the Blakey ethos, heads up a series of sextets -and one quintet-drawn from the musicians who populated iterations of The Messengers that flourished in Art’s final decade and produced such fine albums as `New York Scene` and `Chippin’ In`. Added to these are a couple of highly talented younger generation musicians who Peterson describes as `Legacy Messengers` given their commitment to the genre. Pianist Zaccal Curtis is the one to put your money on.
Unlike his first album in this vein -`Legacy Alive` - Peterson eschews the familiar Blakey repertoire in favour of original material composed by himself and those participating in the project; all the tunes displaying that timeless quality that has made hard-bop one of the most stimulating and enduring jazz forms. Slick ensemble passages bearing infectious melodic riffs and themes resolve into spirited solo choruses and jousting instrumental dialogues driven and prodded by Peterson’s propulsive drumming. But it’s not all storm and stress, there is sufficient variety in terms of texture and tempi to keep the ear engaged and the mind absorbed. Nor is The Messenger Legacy a conventionally derivative tribute band: true, the sound echoes Blakey and Messengers in their various manifestations but the individual contributions are contemporary and fresh minted proving that the legacy is breathing life into a living tradition which, to quote the master, is still capable of, `washing away the dust of everyday life` Boy, was the need ever more urgent!
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
