Roscoe Mitchell | Vincent Davis | Harrison Bankhead | Roscoe Mitchell Trio | No Side Effects | RogueArt Jazz

Higher and higher! Each time we think Roscoe Mitchell has reached the top, he comes back with another groundbreaking recording and this new opus is no exception to the rule. Thanks to three perfectly balanced and complementary musicians, Roscoe Mitchell finds all necessary space to spread his genius. Bringing all necessary understanding and vigour to his music, Harrison Bankhead on bass and Vincent Davis on drums take this recording to the top. Like he gets us used to, Roscoe Mitchell has improvisation and composition intimately cohabit with perfect control. They don’t come up against each other but complement one another with spontaneity, sophistication, smoothness, conviction and flickness. « No Side Effects » is the best possible evidence Roscoe Mitchell still has a lot to say and will keep on surprising us. Continue reading

Hamid Drake | Nicole Mitchell | Harrison Bankhead | Indigo Trio | Anaya | RogueArt Jazz

Creative music making is a matter of energy, heart, and trust and when all three are present the music flies. A meeting of three old Chicago friends and collaborators, flutist Nicole Mitchell, drummer Hamid Drake, and bassist Harrison Bankhead, the Indigo Trio soars with the kind of spiritual energy that has inspired Great Black Music from its inception… Building a bridge between composition and improvisation, Bankhead, Drake, and Mitchell have created an inspiring second CD. With their spirit of openness and generosity, the Indigo Trio model the poet Rumi’s insight that “only from the heart can you touch the sky.” — Ellen Waterman, excerpt from the liner notes Continue reading

Hamid Drake | Nicole Mitchell | Harrison Bankhead | Michel Edelin | Indigo Trio | The Ethiopian Princess Meets The Tantric Priest | RogueArt Jazz

Nicole Mitchell and Michel Edelin are two of the most creative flutists in music of any sort today, brilliant improvisers with highly developed sensitivities to sound. Yet their personal approaches to playing one of the oldest instruments in the world represent two far ends of an esthetic spectrum… … So The Ethiopian Princess Meets the Tantric Priest demonstrates what happens when opposite poles touch. Like a marvel of physics, the reverberations generate something new: in this case, previously unimagined dimensions of pure song. The sonic spheres the Princess and the Priest conjure – with wonderful support from bassist/pianist Harrison Bankhead and drummer Hamid Drake – are akin to what’s born by a spirit of the air in congress with a guardian of the earth… — Howard Mandel, excerpts from the liner notes Continue reading

Hamid Drake | Ernest Dawkins | Harrison Bankhead | Chicago Trio | Velvet Songs | RogueArt Jazz

This 2 cd set recorded live at the Velvet Lounge a year before the legendary Fred Anderson passed away, is a fitting tribute by 3 Chicagoans to one of their own, the master tenor player, teacher, Velvet Lounge owner, advocate and AACM member, who has helped foster the musical scene in that city possibly more than anyone else. This artistic outing is a pilgrimage in sound taking us into the deepest recesses of this eclectic medium known as “jazz”. These pieces conceived/composed by the 3 reflect all phases of their erudite abilities, their singular as well as collective approaches to the music both compositionally and improvisational while specifically highlighting Dawkins’ virtuosity as a player and showing the masterful abilities of Bankhead and Drake as well. The music crosses barriers displaying every conceivable aspect of the “jazz” language with an almost religious zeal. — Steve Dalachinsky, excerpts from the liner notes Continue reading