Clifford Jordan Bearcat

New release of "The Lighting Of The Lamps", from acclaimed tenorist Grant Stewart. A quintet session that sheds light on some unfamiliar corners of jazz history, The Lighting Of The Lamps features regular collaborators, bassist David Wong, pianist Tardo Hammer and drummer Phil Stewart. The group is joined by special guest trumpeter Bruce Harris for a searching, straight-ahead date. Stewart, Toronto-born, former DownBeat Rising Star and collaborator with the likes of Jimmy Cobb, Harold Mabern, Louis Hayes and Clark Terry, returns to Cellar Music following his successful 2020 release of Rise and Shine. But listening back to this session on a gray, New York afternoon, Stewart was reminded not of daybreak but rather, dusk.

Aside from the alluring title, which in terms of words alone, not music, recalls Jim Hendrix’s “Burning of the Midnight Lamp,” we have a straight-ahead, inspired session led by Toronto-born, NYC-based tenorist Grant Stewart and his usual contingent plus rising NYC-based trumpeter Bruce Harris, making this a classic quintet configuration.