Trumpeter
Thompson's second CD for
Delmark has the leader surrounding himself with powerful sidemen and tributes to heroes, while emphasizing that the "jaz" life (one z purposefully left off) is a struggle to be overcome and to thrive in the midst of. Saxophonists
Carter Jefferson and
Joe Ford contribute mightily, as they have to projects by
Woody Shaw and
McCoy Tyner, respectively. Pianist
Kirk Brown and bassist
Harrison Bankhead play inside and out with equal aplomb, while rhythm navigators like drummer
Nasar Abadey and percussionist
Richard Lawrence keep things potent and swinging. These six compositions are not only life-affirming, but acknowledgments to such important icons as
John Coltrane,
Art Blakey,
Miles Davis, and some of their important sidemen, who have inspired
Thompson during his struggle with a rare lymphomatic cancer.
"In Walked John" starts the CD off, an original of the leader with a rippling
Wayne Shorter-
Lee Morgan melody wed to a well swung
Louis Jordan R&B beat. Trane-like
"Cousin Mary" inferences are tacked onto
Jefferson's dusky tenor sax solo and
Brown's
McCoy Tyner-esque piano. Another penned by
Thompson, this time for the
"Mystic Trumpet Man" Davis, is a thoroughly modern chart with soulful yet spiritual nuances, and more Chi-town soul flavor injections.
"Lucky Seven," a 12-minute composition, has modal, repeated piano chords with horns as an intro, a piano trio workout for the indefatigable
Brown,
Jefferson going at it on tenor replete with
"A Love Supreme" quotes from the trumpeter, a drum solo for the underrated
Abadey, and a polyphonic, multi-layered free section leading to the coda. The other three are standards, one a gospel-blues treatment of the
Ray Charles classic
"Drown in My Own Tears" in a total team concept.
"My Romance," taken in an easy tempo, has
Thompson's solidly rearranged ostinato to 3/4 sped-up breaks -- far from a rote approach to this tried and true melody.
Jefferson's stick-to-your-ribs solo -- echoes of
Gene Ammons by way of
Trane/
Sonny Rollins -- is grounded and centered in freshness and parameter-pushing.
Billy Harper's immortal waltz
"Croquet Ballet," done originally by
Lee Morgan, is sweet and faithful to no fault with the three horns, perhaps a little tamer in its stratospheric catharsis, but no less enjoyable.
Thompson really hits the note consistently with this band of modern mainstream jazz masters performing at their best. Recommended. ~ Michael G. Nastos
![Let It Bleed [50th Anniversary Edition]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0018771858522_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Let It Bleed [50th Anniversary Edition]")
