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Spare and simple songs are given a simmering hard-bop treatment in the most relaxed, alert, and complete record of Harrell's career
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We Say...
Just because you've heard percolating post-bop like this before doesn't mean it has lost its capacity to dazzle. You can feel the passion and anticipation build as the groove to "Sequenza" narrows and intensifies: Pianist Danny Grissett comps hard on the chords, drummer Johnathan Blake battens down the classic snare drum-ride cymbal combination, and tenor Wayne Escoffery roars like a chainsaw, then tries to pause for some exultant shrieks but can't restrain his momentum. Only after that gushing climax begins to fade does Harrell — trumpeter, bandleader, composer of all eight songs — step in with a spirited but slightly more laconic solo, yielding in turn to Grissett. It is hard bop panache in its recognizable, refreshing essence, performed by satisfied, baton-passing pros exceeding their own high standard.
Harrell has amassed a trunkload of accolades during his 30+ years as a bandleader but on 2007's Light On and now Prana Dance, he's never sounded so complete, subsumed in the moments of his music, relaxed and yet alert. He's been troubled by schizophrenia most of his life, expressing little or no affect except when he's on the bandstand. But the prana in the title is a reference to a holistic way of achieving balance and nourishment and the disc makes a compelling case for it. His songs are spare and simple, anchored by cogent riffs — truncated, they could be TV-show theme songs. Songs like "Maharaja" and "In the Infinite," have a little hitch in their rhythm, a swagger in their step, but within an accessible pop context, a la Ramsey Lewis's "The In Crowd." But other tunes, like "The Call," vary the texture, with Escoffery on soprano and Grissett playing what sounds like Fender Rhodes. The result is vaguely afrocentric, like Pharoah Sanders in the '70s, and vaguely wet fusion jazz, like Weather Report workouts later in that decade. Few records are able to engage the mind, the body and the soul with such organic, straightforward rapport. -
They Say...
Sticking with the atmospheric vibe of 2007's Light On, trumpeter Tom Harrell delivers more progressive and laid-back post-bop on 2009's Prana Dance. Once again, Harrell is backed by his working group featuring keyboardist Danny Grissett, saxophonist Wayne Escoffery, bassist Ugonna Okegwo, and drummer Johnathan Blake. This is a stellar ensemble with an organic, almost telepathic sense of group interplay, featuring highly inventive and adept improvisers well suited to Harrell's cerebral compositions. The deftly simple tunes belie Harrell's use of odd time signatures and knotty, creative harmonic passages. Such songs as the buoyant "Marching" and the angular mid-album track "The Call" make the most of keyboardist Grissett's searching and minimalist Fender Rhodes sound. Similarly, the driving modal piece "Sequenza" brings to mind work by both Wayne Shorter and Dave Liebman -- which isn't necessarily surprising as saxophonist Escoffery adds a lithe and angular voice to each song. While he's always been an impeccable improviser and technically adroit hornman, Harrell himself has never sounded better or more assured on the trumpet. There's a warmth and directness to Harrell's music here that seems to flow from the yogic notion of prana or the balance of breath. In that sense, Prana Dance is the perfect balance of breath, movement, and music.
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| 01. |  |
MARCHING |
5:55 |
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| 02. | |
PRANA |
7:30 |
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| 03. | |
SEQUENZA |
8:26 |
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| 04. | |
MAHARAJA |
5:19 |
|
| 05. | |
THE CALL |
7:52 |
|
| 06. | |
RIDE |
7:00 |
|
| 07. | |
THE SEA SERPENT |
6:07 |
|
| 08. | |
IN THE INFINITE |
8:11 |
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08 Total Tracks, 56:20 Total Length
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Credits
- Joe Fields - Executive Producer // Tom Harrell - Trumpet // Tom Harrell - Flugelhorn // Tom Harrell - Producer // Dave Kowalski - Engineer // Neil Tesser - Liner Notes // Ugonna Okegwo - Bass // Danny Grissett - Piano // Danny Grissett - Fender Rhodes // Wayne Escoffery - Sax (Soprano) // Wayne Escoffery - Sax (Tenor) // Wayne Escoffery - Producer // Angela Harrell - Producer // Keiji Obata - Design // Patrick Grin - Photography
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Performers
Ugonna Okegwo // Johnathan Blake // Wayne Escoffery // Danny Grissett
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