Funky Four Plus One

American jazz singer Leslie Lewis grew up with a love of equal parts Ella and Aretha and, together with husband-pianist-arranger Gerard Hagen, presents “Funky Ella” – a new project celebrating feel-good music.

T.J. Kirk - Talking Only Makes It Worse (2003) {Ropeadope Records rec 1997}
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© 1997, 2003 Ropeadope Records | [none]
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Post-Bop / Fusion / Guitars

Although it is not noted on the outside cover and is even difficult to discern from the inside liner notes, this is a live recording of the short-lived group, caught at a show at an unnamed venue in 1997. Regardless of the rather mysterious nature of the disc, it's a terrific representation of the foursome's phenomenal instrumental chops. The triple guitar/drums lineup cherry-picks tracks from their studio albums, both of which are out of print as of this disc's appearance in early 2004. Hence, it's the only way to hear this adventurous quartet deconstruct/reconstruct and mix and match the funk, jazz, and avant-garde qualities of the music of James Brown, Thelonious Monk, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk.

Long considered one of, if not the classic album from the Modern Jazz Quartet, European Concert defines them simultaneously as a recording entity as well as a working band. MJQ presented jazz in the context of a formally structured environment, much like a chamber group in the classical context. Within the band, the groove of Milt "Bags" Jackson's vibes met the solid swing of Connie Kay's drums, the funky strut of Percy Heath's bass, and the elegant classicism of John Lewis's piano. The MJQ were able, in a context that pushed at jazz's boundaries from the outside, to create a music that swung without edges or fragmented harmonic structures. Instead - as this album perhaps more than any of their studio recordings exemplifies - they used concepts of time, space, meter, rhythm, and changes to weave together a seamless whole, where melody grounded the improvisation but never really restricted it…