by Ken Field / The New Edge
The New Edge features a cross-genre mix of creative instrumental music that does not always fit neatly into genre boxes.
For Show #905, airing on April 30th, 2024, we will hear work from the Jazz Defenders, a group led by UK pianist George Cooper. Their most recent release on the ITI Records label is “Memory in Motion.” We’ll listen to a great groove track called “Take a Minute” to kick off the show. From there, several pieces from the great woodwind player Shabaka Hutchings, here mostly on flute, but also on saxophone and clarinet. The release is “Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace.” The album features an amazing cast of musicians, including Jason Moran, Nasheet Waits, Brandee Younger, and harpist Charles Overton, who is based in the Boston area.
An early June release is scheduled for saxophonist Oded Tzur’s latest on ECM, “My Prophet,” with a great group of Nitai Hershkivits, Petros Klampanis, and Cyrano Almeida. We’ll listen to three tracks from this stunning album. After that it’s another saxophonist, Nicole Glover, whose album on Savant Records is called “Nicole Glover Plays.” And indeed she does, with proficiency and passion. I’ve included a somewhat more sedate piece for this show: “The A-Side.”
We’ll move on from there to some exquisite work from pianist Noah Haidu in a trio setting with Buster WIlliams and Billy Hart. From the Sunnyside release “Standards II” we’l hear a beautiful interpretation of “Over the Rainbow,” followed by the lovely standard “Someone to Watch Over Me.” Canadian bassist Mike Downes closes this third set of the program with two tracks from his self-released album, “The Way In.”
Closing the program in our fourth set, we’ll hear from the Italian guitar/bass duo of Michele Fattori and Marcello Sebastiani, with the title track from their Edizioni Notami release “Gavagai,” followed by sound artist Kory Reeder’s “Duo” from his Full Spectrum album ”If the Thought Evaporates.” We’ll close with Chicago-based drummer Kabir Dalawari and his ensemble performing ”Turbulence,” from ”Last Call” on the Shifting Paradigm label. It’s my guess that this piece was very possibly inspired by an unnervingly bumpy flight!
The program will be archived for two weeks after the April 30 broadcast date on the WMBR website.