Dee Dee Bridgewater

Afro Physicist, trumpeter Theo Croker’s third album as a leader and his debut on Dee Dee Bridgewater’s DDB imprint and the Sony-owned OKeh brand, showcases him in a context that might be called “retro-progressive.” Many of its stylistic elements have a distinct ’70s-era flavor, but the way Croker mashes them together and then tops everything off with his straightforward but imaginative soloing marks him as an avatar of genre-defying postmodernism. “Realize,” for instance, blazes no new trails—rock/jazz/funk fusionists staked out this territory at least 35 years ago.

What does a bass player do when he’s recording an album as a leader? Surely not an hour’s worth of bass solos! Ray Brown solved the bass player’s dilemma with a series of recordings under the Some of My Best Friends Are… heading. This 1998 release is the third in the series, following the earlier Some of My Best Friends Are…Piano Players and Some of My Best Friends Are…Sax Players, and it’s a gem. Featuring a sextet of fine vocalists, ranging from the well-established to the unknown, this CD is a class act from beginning to end.

Conversations with Christian is an unusual release, as it features the veteran bassist playing duets with a number of good friends. The vocal meetings include Angélique Kidjo, Sting, and Dee Dee Bridgewater (the latter with a hilarious, funky cover of the Isley Brothers' signature song "It's Your Thing"). The pairings with musicians of McBride's generation (trumpeter Roy Hargrove, tenor saxophonist Ron Blake, and guitarist Russell Malone) all exceed expectations. There are several enjoyable duets with pianists, one featuring Latin jazz master Eddie Palmieri, a duo improvised tango by Chick Corea and the leader, plus an all too rare acoustic outing by the talented George Duke (who tears up the keyboard with his hard-charging "McDukey Blues".

The early '70s were rife with political and racial conflicts, indicative of the pressures surrounding the scandal of Watergate and Richard Nixon, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the painful continuation of the Vietnam War. As explosive as the times were, Frank Foster's The Loud Minority reflected all of those mounting tensions while remaining hopeful in a self-determining way that gave rise to the "I'm Black and I'm Proud" sentiment. Foster assembled a giant of a big band featuring dual instrumentation all around, including keyboards, basses, and drummers to power a horn section chock-full of the best mainstream jazz and progressive players of the day.

One of the most creative jazz drummmers of our time, Terri Lyne Carrington continues her visionary musical odyssey by way of The Mosaic Project (GrooveJazz Media/Video Arts Music), her ambitious cross genre production featuring some of the world's top musicians. The veteran producer and composer is joined by Dianne Reeves, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Cassandra Wilson, Esperanza Spalding, Helen Sung, Tineke Postma, Geri Allen, Patrice Rushen, Ingrid Jensen, Sheila E. and Gretchen Parlato, among others.

On March 27, 2020, the dynamic young saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin delivers her masterwork, Pursuance: The Coltranes. A cohesive walk through the lineage of the jazz artform, Benjamin’s third full-length release as a leader pays homage to two of the greatest musical innovators of the 20th century, John and Alice Coltrane. As Abiodun Oyewole iterates as part of Benjamin’s rendition of Coltrane’s classic “Acknowledgment” off of the groundbreaking album ‘A Love Supreme’, “John Coltrane was a vessel, taking us to the house of god, he spoke to god in the language god knew, in the language of sound.

20 Tracks recorded by different artists either produced or written by Earth Wind and Fire. Dee Dee Bridgewater ‘Tequila Mockingbird’, Alton McClain and Destiny ‘ Answer To My Prayer’, Pockets ‘Got To Find my Way’ , Valarie Carter ‘City Lights’, Sylvia St James ‘let Love Groove Me’ and Emotions ‘There’ll Never Be Another Moment’ sit alongside instrumentals Ramsey Lewis ‘Sun Goddess’, Gene Harris ‘Theme For Relana’ and Caldera ‘Ancient Source’. A great tribute to one of the album great bands.

Verve Records celebrated the 50th anniversary of Norman Granz's first Jazz at the Philharmonic concert with an all-star get-together at Carnegie Hall. Different groups of top players from Verve's legacy (both past and present) had opportunities to perform, and this CD has many of the highlights. Pianist Peter Delano plays "Tangerine" with a trio; Dee Dee Bridgewater sings "Shiny Stockings" with the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band; Hank Jones pays tribute to Art Tatum; Abbey Lincoln sings "I Must Have That Man"; Joe Henderson meets up with Antonio Carlos Jobim (who made his final concert appearance) on "Desafinado"; "Manteca" features trumpeter Roy Hargrove and trombonist Steve Turre; pianist Yosuke Yamashita pays tribute to Bud Powell; Betty Carter scats on "How High the Moon"; Herbie Hancock and John McLaughlin play a restrained acoustic version of Bill Evans' "Turn out the Stars"; Hargrove teams up with altoist Jackie McLean and guitarist Pat Metheny for "The Eternal Triangle"; organist Jimmy Smith revisits Oliver Nelson's arrangement of "Down by the Riverside"; Art Porter and Jeff Lorber play some crossover, and J.J. Johnson contributes a few trombone solos.