CD African Tarantella - Stefon Harris

-Titulo Original : Audio CD - AFRICAN TARANTELLA - Stefon Harris

-Fabricante :

Blue Note

-Descripcion Original:

African Tarantella by Stefon Harris Since establishing himself as the most exciting vibraphonist of his generation, Stefon Harris has strived to establish himself as an exciting conceptualist as well. He overextended himself with his 70-minute Grand Unification Theory (2003), written for a 12-member ensemble, but creates something warmly cohesive in reworking selections from Duke Ellingtons New Orleans Suite (1970) and Queens Suite (1959) and crowning them with excerpts from his own Ellington-minded Gardner Meditations. There is no lack of Dukish flavor here--not with trombonist Steve Turres muted growls, clarinetist Greg Tardys emulations of the great Jimmy Hamilton and bassist Derrick Hodges percussive nod to the early Ellington bassist memorialized on Dukes Portrait of Wellman Braud. But Harris is after more of a classical feel with his use of cello, viola and flute. The atmosphere can get a bit too rarified for Ellington, but this 12-person cast gets his bluesy, shifting overtones right and the interplay between the leader and pianist Xavier Davis energizes the sound--especially on the hypnotic Sunset and the Mockingbird from the 1959 suite. Harris lovely, shimmering African Tarentella makes you want to hear the rest of The Gardner Meditations, a commissioned work written while he was in residence at Bostons Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, in its entirety. --Lloyd Sachs