Walace Roney

With his second CD for Warner Bros., Wallace Roney began to break free of the frequent claim that he was overly imitating Miles Davis. With an exciting quintet including brother Antoine Roney on trumpet, pianist Carlos McKinney, bassist Clarence Seay, and drummer Eric Allen, the trumpeter encouraged his band to contribute pieces for this recording; the sideman are responsible for six of the ten pieces, and the performances indicate this is a true band and not just a showboat leader with a supporting cast. Antoine's tense, post-bop cooker "Spyra" is an excellent opener, with provocative solos and terrific ensemble work, while Seay's dark "High Stakes" is an eerie bossa nova with an explosive solo by the leader…

This is really two albums in one, with a clear line of demarcation between two concepts. Roney says that he wanted to "incorporate African rhythms with a Nefertiti approach" on the whole CD, but Nefertiti easily overwhelms, even obliterates, the African element up until track six ("Village"), where Steve Berrios' percussion and Robert Irving III's synthesizers kick in. Now the music becomes more interesting, sometimes following the direction of Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi Sextet - and the last four tracks are appropriately linked to one another by Berrios' interludes. The best track, "EBO," has a great theme, an amalgam of Kind of Blue, Filles de Kilimanjaro and Gil Evans, with Chick Corea's Fender Rhodes electric piano complementing Geri Allen's acoustic piano…

Trumpeter Wallace Roney avoids the standard repertoire altogether on this CD, playing pieces by Pat Metheny, the Beatles, Egberto Gismonti, Jaco Pastorius and even Dolly Parton among others but, try as hard as he may, he still sounds like Miles Davis every time he hits a long tone or plays a doubletime passage. Backed by a small orchestra that mostly interprets Gil Goldstein arrangements, Roney is the main soloist throughout this interesting ballad-dominated set.

Wallace Roney's No Room for Argument is about "heritage, mentors, wisdom, responsibility, and spirituality." This CD is packed with excellent straight-ahead, avant-garde, and free jazz that also features samples from speeches given by Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and audio by Deepak Chopra. Roney's evolved, imaginative use of his muted trumpet to achieve the meditative and philosophical concepts inherent in the opener "No Room for Argument" is accomplished effectively. Roney weaves its sound into the well-known orations delivered by King and Malcolm X, giving each note a new design that offers his solution to the challenges of performing respected works in a new medium. His mentor piece, an arrangement and direction of "Homage & Acknowledgement," a vital rework featuring the duality of the great Buster Williams at work on the bassline for John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme"…

Wallace Roney's No Room for Argument is about "heritage, mentors, wisdom, responsibility, and spirituality." This CD is packed with excellent straight-ahead, avant-garde, and free jazz that also features samples from speeches given by Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and audio by Deepak Chopra. Roney's evolved, imaginative use of his muted trumpet to achieve the meditative and philosophical concepts inherent in the opener "No Room for Argument" is accomplished effectively. Roney weaves its sound into the well-known orations delivered by King and Malcolm X, giving each note a new design that offers his solution to the challenges of performing respected works in a new medium. His mentor piece, an arrangement and direction of "Homage & Acknowledgement," a vital rework featuring the duality of the great Buster Williams at work on the bassline for John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme"…

Wallace Roney's No Room for Argument is about "heritage, mentors, wisdom, responsibility, and spirituality." This CD is packed with excellent straight-ahead, avant-garde, and free jazz that also features samples from speeches given by Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and audio by Deepak Chopra. Roney's evolved, imaginative use of his muted trumpet to achieve the meditative and philosophical concepts inherent in the opener "No Room for Argument" is accomplished effectively. Roney weaves its sound into the well-known orations delivered by King and Malcolm X, giving each note a new design that offers his solution to the challenges of performing respected works in a new medium. His mentor piece, an arrangement and direction of "Homage & Acknowledgement," a vital rework featuring the duality of the great Buster Williams at work on the bassline for John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme"…

The Philadelphia-born trumpeter-bandleader Wallace Roney has been a significant force on the jazz scene from the age 16. With twenty one recordings as a leader, and some impressive work with McCoy Tyner, Dizzy Gillespie, Elvin Jones, Chick Corea, and as the protegé of Miles Davis. Roney has secured his place in jazz history as a member of VSOP. This new CD, features Roney as the mentor and guiding light of a quicksilver group of the Next Generation Jazz Artists: Emilio Modeste (saxes), Oscar Williams II (piano), Paul Cuffari (bass) and Kojo Odu Roney (drums).

Upon first listen to trumpeter Wallace Roney's Mystikal one might be inclined to marginalize it as yet another attempt to re-create '70s-era Miles Davis. This would be a mistake. While Roney has always owed a large debt to the iconic jazz innovator – he even played with Davis on a concert released as Miles & Quincy Live at Montreux – Mystikal is a modern album made up of vintage parts. Which is to say that while Roney has deep affection for the sounds of '60s jazz and '70s funk and fusion, he is a resolutely forward-thinking musician who borrows from a variety of sources and time periods even when the overall sound is funky.

Trumpeter Wallace Roney's debut as a leader at the age of 26 occurred when he was a member of Tony Williams' Quintet. In fact, Williams is the drummer on this quintet set which also features tenor saxophonist Gary Thomas, pianist Mulgrew Miller and bassist Charnett Moffett. The group performs originals by Roney, Williams and two by Cindy Blackman, plus the standard "Blue in Green." The music is essentially advanced hard bop, with Roney as usual often sounding a bit tonewise like his hero Miles Davis.