VARIOUS ARTISTS - Blue Note Re:imagined 2020
Blue Note Records 0710012 ( Double Album)
Sixteen Artists and Bands: Jorja Smith, Ezra Collective, Poppy Ajudha, Jordan Rakei, Skinny Pelembe, Alfa Mist, Ishmael Ensemble, Nubya Garcia, Steam Down featuring Afronaut Zu, Blue Lab Beats, Yazmin Lacey, Fieh, Mr Jukes, Shabaka Hutchings, Melt Yourself Down, Emma-Jean Thackray.
Once again, the ever forward looking Blue Note record label have come up with a great concept of covering the widest possible cross section of the contemporary global audience. This time, in a partnership with Decca Records, they have taken some great, famous and not so famous tracks from the past, and presented them through the cutting edge skills of today's modern musicians from the UK. The whole project is already an artistic and commercial success with many and forms a reference point not only to the marked progress of the British jazz scene, but also to the longevity of the classic Blue Note recordings from the past six decades. From the opening track of disc one, a vocal cover of the unique and stunning Rose Rouge on St Germain's "Tourist" album of 2001 by Jorja Smith to the closer of disc two, a re- interpretation of Wayne Shorter's Speak No Evil by the highly talented Emma-Jean Thackray, every cut is powerful in its own way and contributes to the eighty plus minutes of great music on offer.
As with most recordings of any genre there are outstanding highlights, even when the overall standard is already high, and so it proved to be with this fine package. Wayne Shorter, by common consent is one of the most important jazz composers of modern times and it was his composition Footprints that provided the vehicle for the exciting Ezra Collective to perform. The tune from the "Miles Smiles" album of 1966 is a powerful iconic one well updated by the band with Dylan Jones trumpet and the piano of Joe Armon-Jones taking the solo honours. McCoy Tyner's sensual classic Search For Peace covered by the Bristol based Ishmael Ensemble was given a dramatic treatment with a vocal choir behind some fine tenor by Ishmael (aka Pete Cunningham) which brought the piece up to date without ever taking anything away from the composer's intentions. Maiden Voyage by Herbie Hancock provided the halcyon days of Blue Note with one of its most profound and memorable moments. Here we had the purveyors of funk Mr Jukes (another aka, this time Jack Steadman) a fine vocalist, guitar player, pianist and ex leader of "The Bombay Cycle Club" taking the band through his own well crafted arrangement of this classic piece, maintaining the power of the original but adding some fresh subtle directions of their own. The very top of a considerable tree for me however has to be the remarkable bass clarinet performance by Shabaka Hutchings on Bobby Hutcherson's Prince Tie played in a spacious and semi minimalist manner, with a depth and passion, which perhaps could be rivalled only by John Surman or the late great Eric Dolphy.
Overall, this double album offers a clear window into today's music with full respect to the past, but at the same time may not sit comfortably with the complete purist or indeed the so called "jazz police".
Reviewed by Jim Burlong
Blue Note Records 0710012 ( Double Album)
Sixteen Artists and Bands: Jorja Smith, Ezra Collective, Poppy Ajudha, Jordan Rakei, Skinny Pelembe, Alfa Mist, Ishmael Ensemble, Nubya Garcia, Steam Down featuring Afronaut Zu, Blue Lab Beats, Yazmin Lacey, Fieh, Mr Jukes, Shabaka Hutchings, Melt Yourself Down, Emma-Jean Thackray.
Once again, the ever forward looking Blue Note record label have come up with a great concept of covering the widest possible cross section of the contemporary global audience. This time, in a partnership with Decca Records, they have taken some great, famous and not so famous tracks from the past, and presented them through the cutting edge skills of today's modern musicians from the UK. The whole project is already an artistic and commercial success with many and forms a reference point not only to the marked progress of the British jazz scene, but also to the longevity of the classic Blue Note recordings from the past six decades. From the opening track of disc one, a vocal cover of the unique and stunning Rose Rouge on St Germain's "Tourist" album of 2001 by Jorja Smith to the closer of disc two, a re- interpretation of Wayne Shorter's Speak No Evil by the highly talented Emma-Jean Thackray, every cut is powerful in its own way and contributes to the eighty plus minutes of great music on offer.
As with most recordings of any genre there are outstanding highlights, even when the overall standard is already high, and so it proved to be with this fine package. Wayne Shorter, by common consent is one of the most important jazz composers of modern times and it was his composition Footprints that provided the vehicle for the exciting Ezra Collective to perform. The tune from the "Miles Smiles" album of 1966 is a powerful iconic one well updated by the band with Dylan Jones trumpet and the piano of Joe Armon-Jones taking the solo honours. McCoy Tyner's sensual classic Search For Peace covered by the Bristol based Ishmael Ensemble was given a dramatic treatment with a vocal choir behind some fine tenor by Ishmael (aka Pete Cunningham) which brought the piece up to date without ever taking anything away from the composer's intentions. Maiden Voyage by Herbie Hancock provided the halcyon days of Blue Note with one of its most profound and memorable moments. Here we had the purveyors of funk Mr Jukes (another aka, this time Jack Steadman) a fine vocalist, guitar player, pianist and ex leader of "The Bombay Cycle Club" taking the band through his own well crafted arrangement of this classic piece, maintaining the power of the original but adding some fresh subtle directions of their own. The very top of a considerable tree for me however has to be the remarkable bass clarinet performance by Shabaka Hutchings on Bobby Hutcherson's Prince Tie played in a spacious and semi minimalist manner, with a depth and passion, which perhaps could be rivalled only by John Surman or the late great Eric Dolphy.
Overall, this double album offers a clear window into today's music with full respect to the past, but at the same time may not sit comfortably with the complete purist or indeed the so called "jazz police".
Reviewed by Jim Burlong
