Orrin Evans – Liberation Blues (2014) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Orrin Evans – Liberation Blues (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:12:37 minutes | 1,41 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Smoke Sessions Records

ORRIN EVANS—PIANIST, BANDLEADER AND NOTORIOUS MUSICAL CATALYST—is a bona fide, jazz original. Brimming with music and ideas, Orrin’s Liberation Blues debuts one of his most impressive projects yet, a new quintet lineup that includes Sean Jones, JD Allen, Luques Curtis, and Bill Stewart. The recording, made live at Smoke Jazz Club in New York City, occurred immediately following the passing of bassist Dwayne Burno, and the opening selections comprise the “Liberation Blues Suite” dedicated to his memory. Orrin explains, “In my eyes, Burno is now a ‘Free Man’ … but with that freedom, we’ve lost a great man right here on earth. So, there’s still a blues we feel missing our brother and friend.” Simply put, the playing is inspired. Sean Jones and JD Allen are a brilliant pairing and it is hard to miss Bill Stewart’s presence. Orrin says, “Let me do something that people wouldn’t expect, somethin’ that I wouldn’t even expect. Listen … now is the time for Bill Stewart.” After mining the compositions of Paul Motian, Trudy Pitts, Miles Davis, and, of course, Orrin Evans, the night concludes with a memorable encore visit from Philadelphia vocalist Joanna Pascale for a sultry version of “The Night has a Thousand Eyes.” Liberation Blues is available for purchase as an 8-panel CD-Deluxe Album complete with liner notes, interview and additional photos or as a high resolution download mastered for iTunes.

In contrast to Cyrus Chestnut’s hyper-intuitive trio, pianist Orrin Evans brings a bright quintet to bear with trumpeter Sean Jones and tenor saxophonist JD Allen. A full half of the Smoke performance is dedicated to “The Liberation Blues Suite” to whom Evans dedicated to bassist Dwayne Burno who died of kidney disease December 28, 2013. The suite opens with two Burno compositions, “Devil Eyes” and “Juanita.” The former is a brisk cooker featuring the whole band in a cooperative display of empathy. The latter is a ballad with a delicate head that proves more durable than it initially sounds. Evans composed two of the last three pieces for the suite, the angular “A Lil’ D.A.B a Do Ya” and the closing, “Liberation Blues,” which is evidence of the continuing evolution of the blues as a discreet art form.

Outside of the suite, Evans contributes a couple of originals, the freely swinging “Simply Green” a useful vehicle for Jones’ precision trumpet playing. Paul Motian’s “Mumbo Jumbo” provides a craggy, dissonant head and the wide open harmonic spaces in which the horns dance a drunken waltz. Evans reprises his performance of “How High the Moon” which he and Jones shared on Jones’ recent Mack Avenue release Im-pro-vise: Never Heard Before (2014). Evans, like Chestnut, includes a closing vamp on Miles Davis’ “The Theme” before the encore of “The Night has a Thousand Eyes” sung by Joanna Pascale. Study and solid. –C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz

Tracklist:

01. Orrin Evans, Sean Jones, JD Allen, Luques Curtis, Bill Stewart – Devil Eyes (09:22)
02. Orrin Evans, Sean Jones, JD Allen, Luques Curtis, Bill Stewart – Juanita (04:55)
03. Orrin Evans, Sean Jones, JD Allen, Luques Curtis, Bill Stewart – A Lil’ D.A.B. a do Ya (02:03)
04. Orrin Evans, Sean Jones, JD Allen, Luques Curtis, Bill Stewart – A Free Man? (06:55)
05. Orrin Evans, Sean Jones, JD Allen, Luques Curtis, Bill Stewart – Liberation Blues (05:36)
06. Orrin Evans, Sean Jones, JD Allen, Luques Curtis, Bill Stewart – Simply Green (05:48)
07. Orrin Evans, Sean Jones, JD Allen, Luques Curtis, Bill Stewart – Anysha (06:21)
08. Orrin Evans, Sean Jones, JD Allen, Luques Curtis, Bill Stewart – Meant to Shine (05:00)
09. Orrin Evans, Sean Jones, JD Allen, Luques Curtis, Bill Stewart – Mumbo Jumbo (05:58)
10. Orrin Evans, Sean Jones, JD Allen, Luques Curtis, Bill Stewart – How High the Moon (06:12)
11. Orrin Evans, Sean Jones, JD Allen, Luques Curtis, Bill Stewart – The Theme (06:46)
12. Orrin Evans, Sean Jones, JD Allen, Luques Curtis, Bill Stewart – The Night Has a Thousand Eyes (07:36)

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