Spike Wilner Odalisque

The 5th album in the Smalls Living Masters series finds tenor titan George Coleman in the company of pianist Spike Wilner, bassist Peter Washington and drummer Joe Farnsworth in the intimate confines of Smalls Jazz Club. In the words of George Coleman "this record is a tribute to our great city and all of our great fans." Coleman is on fire and sound better than ever!

Pianist Spike Wilner and his trio chose to pay respect to two of the giant fathers of modern music: Thelonious Monk and Duke Ellington! They both have a unique compositional style that lends perfectly for ALL musicians to digest and then interpret with their own voice. Features the all star rhythm tandem of bassist Peter Washington and drummer Joe Farnsworth and recorded at GB's Juke Joint in Long Island City, New York on January 11, 2022.

An outstanding artiste on the Chicago musical scene, Carey, in addition to guiding his sons Lurrie, Steve and James towards the blues, did not fossilise his style into the urban one, but often enjoyed leaving the electric cage to perform acoustically in a duo. Although the results have been late in arriving, in spite of the occasional presence of famous musicians such as Louisiana Red, everything has changed after the issue of this CD. First of all the work is almost free of the usual standards, with the exception of ‘'Good Morning Little Schoolgirl’’ and ‘Stop Breaking Down’, and the parts between Bell and the guitarist/singer Spike Ravenswood (a linear and expressive partner, without instrumental egocentricities which are useless in the economy of work), are equally divided…

Director Sam Eastmond composed and arranged these works for the 15-piece big band Spike Orchestra, as he examines the power and magic of words through stories, splintered and fragmented through resonance and dissonance, merging influences, styles and instrumental colors over four expansive works yielding inspired moments in orchestration and soloing.