Inspiration 9

Sam Rivers - Inspiration (1998) {RCA Victor ‎74321-64717-2}
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© 1998 RCA Victor / BMG ‎France | 74321-64717-2
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Experimental Big Band / Avant-Garde Jazz / Saxophone / Flute

Prior to Inspiration, Sam Rivers hadn't recorded for a major label in nearly 20 years, and he hadn't cut a studio session in two decades. That doesn't mean he was inactive; he was teaching, playing, and giving concerts but never recording. Aware that many of Rivers' big-band compositions – not only his recent material, but some earlier works as well – had never been given the proper treatment, saxophonist Steve Coleman helped arrange a recording contract with BMG, with the end result being the astonishing Inspiration album.

George Benson's place as one of the greatest and most successful guitarists in the history of jazz is secure, but what's easy to forget sometimes is that he began his career as a vocalist, and if this release, a tribute to Nat King Cole, comes as any kind of surprise, it shouldn't. Benson's and Cole's careers are remarkably similar, both becoming known first as instrumentalists, Cole as a pianist, and Benson, of course, as a guitarist, with both eventually easing into the pop mainstream because of their voices. Cole was a one of a kind vocalist, of course, and even Benson wouldn't claim to equal him as a singer, but Benson has a similarly soothing and lush tenor voice that more than holds its own on these familiar songs.

Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics - Inspiration Information (2009) {Strut STRUT040CD}
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© 2009 Strut | STRUT040CD
Jazz / Ethio Jazz / Post Bop / World Fusion / Afro Beat / Afro-Cuban Jazz / Vibes / Piano

The third in Strut’s Inspiration Information studio collaboration series brings together an intriguing pairing between one of Africa’s great bandleaders, Mulatu Astatke, with the next level musicianship of The Heliocentrics collective from the mighty roster of Stones Throw / Now Again. Known primarily through the successful ‘Ethiopiques’ album series and the film soundtrack to Jim Jarmusch’s ‘Broken Flowers’, Mulatu Astatke is one of Ethiopia’s foremost musical ambassadors. Informed by spells living and studying in the UK and the USA, his self-styled Ethio-jazz sound flourished during the “Swinging Addis” era of the late ‘60s as he successfully fused Western jazz and funk with traditional Ethiopian folk melodies, five tone scale arrangements and elements from music of the ancient Coptic church.

Jazz pianist David Hazeltine, like many baby-boomer musicians, is influenced by Wes, Buddy, and Monk Montgomery and Cedar Walton. For what he calls his most personally driven recording date, he pays tribute to them by composing a four-part suite inspired by their sounds. Hazeltine and his quintet which includes the formidable vibraphonist Joe Locke and longtime collaborator tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander give alms with some well-conceived and executed modern mainstream jazz.

George Benson's place as one of the greatest and most successful guitarists in the history of jazz is secure, but what's easy to forget sometimes is that he began his career as a vocalist, and if this release, a tribute to Nat King Cole, comes as any kind of surprise, it shouldn't. Benson's and Cole's careers are remarkably similar, both becoming known first as instrumentalists, Cole as a pianist, and Benson, of course, as a guitarist, with both eventually easing into the pop mainstream because of their voices. Cole was a one of a kind vocalist, of course, and even Benson wouldn't claim to equal him as a singer, but Benson has a similarly soothing and lush tenor voice that more than holds its own on these familiar songs.

Inspiration is trombonist/composer/bandleader Phil Ranelin's first self-led studio date in eight years. His last, A Close Encounter of the Very Best Kind, was solid and wonderfully articulated and arranged, but was criminally under-recognized. Ranelin's star has been on the rise again in recent years with renewed interest in his recordings on Detroit's legendary Tribe Records imprint (which he co-founded)–reissued on the Hefty and P-VIne labels. Wide Hive has given Ranelin free rein in creating this tribute to his mentors and peers.