Steve Turre

Legendary trombonist and shell master Steve Turre’s SANYAS is amazingly his first live recording as a leader in landmark in a career spanning more than 50 years. Recorded over an electrifying weekend at Smoke Jazz Club, SANYAS boasts a dream all-star band that continues the mission of Turre’s previous Smoke Sessions release, GENERATIONS, in bringing together stellar artists from multiple generations. Turre is joined by elders in the form of the iconic rhythm section of bassist Buster Williams and drummer Lenny White; modern masters trumpeter Nicholas Payton and tenor saxophonist Ron Blake; and the rapidly rising star Isaiah J. Thompson on piano.

Leaving his conch shells - and more offbeat ideas - home this time, Steve Turre's motive for this release was to honor the fountainhead of bop (and thus, modern jazz) trombone, J.J. Johnson, who had tragically taken his own life in 2001 in the face of a terminal illness. In doing so, Turre loads his front line with nothing but trombones - as many as six, but usually fewer. Besides himself, the other trombonists on the album are Robin Eubanks, Steve Davis, Andre Hayward, Douglas Purviance, and New York Philharmonic principal trombonist Joe Alessi (who also plays good jazz). It's a fairly conservative recording by Turre's standards, with an emphasis mostly on the straight-ahead bop that Johnson championed. Indeed, many of the duo-trombone charts sound like latter-day echoes of the famous K and J.J. (Kai Winding/J.J. Johnson) records of the 1950s and '60s…

Right There is primarily a straight-ahead set featuring Steve Turre on trombone and shells in a sextet with violinist John Blake, cellist Akua Dixon Turre, pianist Benny Green, bassist Buster Williams, and drummer Billy Higgins. Wynton Marslis pops up on two of the seven selections, and tenor saxophonist Benny Golson is on one. Highlights include "Woody & Bu," Duke Ellington's "Echoes of Harlem," "Duke's Mountain," and "Descarga De Turre," which has the leader at the helm of a Latin band that includes flutist Dave Valentin and several percussionists. Excellent and spirited music.