Winston, tenor & soprano sax, Yamaha WX5; Lionel Loueke, guitar
& vocals; Herbie Hancock, piano; Aaron Parks, piano; Derrick Hodge,
bass; Kendrick Scott, drums; Howard Drossin, synth programming;
Gretchen Parlato, vocals) BlueNote/EMI 78273 ****:
The album’s title comes from the description of a state of
consciousness in which one is absolutely immersed and absorbed in
an activity without analyzing it too much. Blanchard – one of the
leading composers and players in jazz today – does have a flowing sort
of style, even on uptempo exciting tunes. His tone is always rich and
full, sometimes reminding one of a French horn. Blanchard got into
scoring films via Spike Lee and also had a stint in Art Blakey’s Jazz
Messengers. He observed that he always wanted to have a band creating
fresh and original music instead of just copying what was out there.
And he feels he has accomplished just that with this band.
The tasteful and creative synth programming on the last and longest
track – Harvesting Dance – flows the music along masterfully. The
title tune – the only one by Blanchard himself – is broken up into
three separate tracks interspersed in the album. All the rest of the
tracks are originals by members of his ensemble. I found “Over There”
from bassist Hodge a standout – also demonstrating some intriguing
synth programming. Herbie Hancock only plays on two of the tracks but
according to Blanchard’s notes was an important catalyst as producer of
this fine session. Sideman Loueke, originally from West Africa and
schooled at Berklee in Boston, supplies intruing guitar and vocal
accents to many of the tracks. Hancock and Blanchard tried to eliminate
the leader/sideman hierarchy and have a more collective consciousness
in the band.
Tracks: Flow Pt. 1, Wadagbe (into), Wadagbe, Benny’s Tune, Wandering
Wondor, Flow Pt. II, The Source, Over There, Child’s Playh, Flow Pt.
III, Harvesting Dance.
– John Henry
