T.k. Blue • Eyes of The Elders

Eyes of the Elders is saxophonist and flutist T.K. Blue's second release as a leader on the Arkadia Jazz label, a collection of 13 songs that pertain to certain jazz elders - John Coltrane, Charlie Mingus, Benny Carter, and Denzel Best - who have inspired the artist along his path of musical growth. Infused with the creative influences T.K. Blue received as a result of living in Europe and traveling throughout Africa, the creative elements, circumstances, and events that shaped the concept for Eyes of the Elders are carefully arranged, composed, and masterfully played…

For some reason, Talib Kibwe - the alto saxophonist and flutist well known in the jazz community for his efforts as a sideman with Randy Weston, Abdullah Ibrahim and others - chose the moniker T.K. Blue for this album. Thankfully, it isn't a phony affectation disguising some overbearing smooth jazz or funk project. Kibwe presents a program of modern jazz from different perspectives, all well played and thoughtfully conceived. Help comes from pianists James Weidman, Onaje Allan Gumbs, Michael Cochran and Weston (one cut), bassists Santi Debriano and Calvin Hill, trumpeters Eddie Henderson and Tony Branker, trombonist Bob Ferrel, drummers Cecil Brooks III and Greg Bufford, and percussionist Guilherme Franco, all expert jazz expressionists…