This Friday will see the release of a new jazz sextet album led by trombonist Steve Davis. The seven tracks account for a live performance at the Smoke Jazz Club, located in Manhattan at the corner of 106th Street and Broadway (renamed as Duke Ellington Boulevard). The other members of the sextet are trumpeter Eddie Henderson, Ralph Moore on tenor saxophone, pianist Renee Rosnes, Essiet Essiet on bass, and drummer Lewis Nash. As is almost always the case, Amazon.com has already created a Web page for taking pre-orders.
Cover of the album being discussed (from its Amazon.com Web page)
The title of the album, produced by Smoke Sessions Records, is We See, which is a deliberate nod to Thelonious Monk. It should go without saying that this is one of the seven tracks. Other familiar tracks include “Milestones” (Miles Davis), “Up Jumped Spring” (Freddie Hubbard), “Star Eyes” (Gene de Paul and Don Raye), “Ask Me Now” (Monk again), and “All Blues” (Miles Davis again). However, the stand-out track is an homage to pianist Larry Willis with his “To Wisdom, The Prize.” Willis died in 2019, and he had been one of Davis’ closest collaborators. Thus, there is a strong personal context for the tracks that Davis prepared for this album.
These days I sometimes feel as if I am part of a dying breed that still grooves on straight-ahead jazz. Yes, I can appreciate musicians that boldly go where no improvisers have gone before; but my preferences still turn to those that can spin out inventive takes on past tropes. This is an album of tracks from the past; but the performances are, without a doubt, vividly in the immediate present!
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