K_solar

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…

On the original 1965 The Magic City LP, issued on Saturn, the monster 27-1/2 minute title track sprawled across side A. Ra customarily supervised the Arkestra's improvisational process via keyboard cues or hand signals. He was always in charge—hence critic Simon Adams describing the title track as "27 minutes of controlled freedom." "The Magic City" was never performed in concert; saxophonist John Gilmore said it was "unreproducible, a tapestry of sound." Although shorter in scope than side A's magnum opus, the four works on The Magic City's flip side reflect the same improvisational approach, spatiality, and lack of structure. One session outtake, "Other Worlds," an alternate version of "Shadow World," is included as a bonus track on side B.

Avant jazz and rock guitar ace Raoul Björkenheim pays tribute to his musical hero and paragon John Coltrane, with this new work comprising five covers and two originals. Solar Winds shines with passion, warmth, and energy in its purest form, in an innovative and unusual guitar/violin/bass and drums quartet. All the Italian musicians demonstrate experience of the highest caliber, joining Raoul on this album for a collective song of praise dedicated to the immense heritage of John William Coltrane: musician, illuminated human being, and inspiration for all. This visionary music sees Björkenheim delivering his own sheets of sound with layers of highly electric fretwork reminescent of the best guitar jazz and rock, looking at the past and the future simultaneously. The musicians supporting him in this project literally send his guitar and the music into space.