The first track by The Clayton Brothers
is an excellent example of the Hard Bop
idiom. From a compositional perspective
it makes use of a theme, development, variation,
improvisation, rigid adherence to time,
and a seeming disintegration into rubato,
The musical terracing, a key component of
Hard Bop, is evident throughout; never is
a theme quite played the same twice, and
each journey through the chord changes are
just ever so slightly different. And on
the personal level, you can hear the honest
truth coming from each of the players. There
is nothing artificial in this performance;
it is so real, the joy it brings almost
hurts.
We have a chance to hear Bob James revisit
one of his smooth jazz signature pieces
but this time from a very straight ahead
perspective as well hear Dianne Reeves
give a compelling performance of a standard.
On the funky side, Benny Green takes
an old spiritual and gives a swinging testimonial
of what three guys armed with axes do with
an audience. The soulfulness of this performance
harkens to the early 1960s Ramsey Lewis
Trio, a time at which the members of the
trio had not even yet been born.
From the remainder of the hour, we take
a trip by car, by train, and then on foot.
The sights and sounds of Paris and San Francisco
of the mid-1950s are captured by Clifford
Brown, Max Roach, and Charles Mingus. If
you close your eyes, you might just find
yourself transported to another scene. Charlie
Watts and Louis Jordan remind us of life
underground, waiting on the platform for
the next train to take us to our destination.
And The Clayton Brothers serve notice of
what we might experience as we walk through
our day, and how our choices shape that
which we experience.
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