Iskandar Widjaja just doesn’t line up with the image of a musician on the classical music scene. As the ambassador of a new generation he simply can’t be pigeonholed as representing this or that genre. He connects worlds: as soloist with internationally renowned ensembles – from the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the Munich, Warsaw and Shanghai Philharmonics to the Hong Kong Sinfonietta – and equally as a performer at mass-media events like Miss World or Miss Earth, the Milan EXPO or Paris Fashion Week. He has long been a TV star in East Asia with regular television appearances, commercial advertising contracts and “trending topic” status on Twitter. In his new project Mercy, Iskandar Widjaja presents a broad musical spectrum with a closely interwoven thematic structure, summing up his achievement to date and opening a new phase of his life.
Organist Jimmy McGriff and altoist Hank Crawford always make for a potent team. With guitarist Wayne Boyd and drummer Vance James completing the quartet, McGriff and Crawford explore an appealing mixture of blues, soulful ballads and riff tunes. Few surprises occur but many of the songs (particularly "Movin' Upside the Blues," "The Sermon," "When I Fall in Love" and "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy") are fairly memorable. The fans of these fine players will not be disappointed.
A rare live set by Cannonball Adderley – unreleased in America at the time, and performed with the style of Cannon's best work for Riverside! The album's very similar to some of the group's best live sets for Riverside – like the San Francisco or other Tokyo recording – done with tracks that are long and a bit stretched out, performed with Nat Adderley on cornet, Joe Zawinul on piano, Vic Gaskin on bass, and Roy McCurdy on drums.