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Honey Ear Trio – Swivel – Little (i) Music

Honey Ear Trio – Swivel – Little (i) Music

A piano-less trio which combines electronics, a post-bop inclination and a modern jazz outlook. Honey Ear Trio – Swivel – Little (i) Music 616892358541, 54:32 [10/21/16] ****: (Jeff Lederer – tenor and soprano saxophone; Rene Hart – acoustic bass, electronics; Allison Miller – drums, percussion; Kirk Knuffke – cornet (tracks 3, 6, 10)) The Honey Ear Trio is an improvisational jazz trio which sporadically and deliberately veers from typical jazz territory. The threesome’s sophomore album, Swivel, is well named. This nearly-hour long, 11-track outing unpredictably goes in directions where jazz typically doesn’t go. Honey Ear Trio consists of saxophonist Jeff Lederer, bassist Rene Hart, drummer Allison Miller plus guest cornetist Kirk Knuffke (who is heard on three pieces). Honey Ear Trio’s 2011 debut, Steampunk Serenade, featured saxophonist Erik Lawrence and the album displayed a modernist outlook. Swivel continues that viewpoint and Lederer (who joined Honey Ear Trio in 2013) fits right in. Each member of the trio has extensive experience in jazz, improv music and other genres. Miller heads a jazz group, Boom Tic Boom, and has backed singer-songwriters Ani DiFranco and Natalie Merchant; Lederer fronts the jazz ensemble Brooklyn Blowhards and is part of the Matt Wilson Quartet; Hart […]

The Cookers – The Call of the Wild and Peaceful Heart – Smoke Sessions

The Cookers – The Call of the Wild and Peaceful Heart – Smoke Sessions

Not resting on their laurels… The Cookers – The Call of the Wild and Peaceful Heart – Smoke Sessions SSR 1607, 74:08 ****: (Eddie Henderson – trumpet; David Weiss – trumpet; Donald Harrison – alto sax; Billy Harper – tenor sax; George Cables – piano; Cecil McBee – bass; Billy Hart – drums) For their fifth CD release the super-star jazz ensemble, The Cookers, have moved to the Smoke Sessions Records label. This is a smart move both artistically, and hopefully on the marketing side. Smoke Sessions have been releasing some of the best hard bop and progressive jazz issues over the last several years, ranging from jazz icons such as George Coleman, Harold Mabern, Louis Hayes, and Jimmy Cobb, as well as from more contemporary artists as Orrin Evans and Peter Bernstein. (The label also released a CD from the Cookers’ trumpeter, Eddie Henderson – Collective Portrait). What is so exciting about The Cookers is that they continue to release vibrant, creative music at this stage in their careers. Founding member trumpeter, David Weiss, and newest member, altoist Donald Harrison, are both in their ‘50s, while the balance of the musicians are in their ‘70s (bassist Cecil McBee is 81..). […]