Free Style

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Album Information

Total Tracks: 11   Total Length: 64:51

eMusic Features

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New Orleans Rolls On

By Kevin Whitehead, eMusic Contributor

New Orleans 'most recent round of hurricane scares - and interview clips of evacuees declaring this time they're really not coming back - make you fear anew for its future. Many of the musicians who carry the city's heartbeat never really returned after Katrina. The diaspora of émigrés (including a few musicians reviewed here) stretches from Texas into Georgia. Still, returnees and exiles alike continue to preserve and extend the city's musical traditions. And they… more »

They Say All Music Guide

Donald Harrison plays quite well throughout this set, displaying a distinctive tone and a consistently creative style within the genre of straight-ahead jazz. All but the last two selections feature him accompanied by bassist Vicente Archer and drummer John Lamkin, both of whom stay very much in the background, often playing repetitive and somewhat dull figures. Pianist Glenn Patscha is on three numbers without making an impression, while the final two songs have Harrison joined by Ron Carter and Billy Cobham. The idea behind this outing is not described in the brief liner notes. Harrison’s alto solos are excellent and varied but it is a pity that all of the support he receives is very anonymous, laid-back and unimaginative. Was this on purpose? But fans of Donald Harrison are still advised to pick this one up for his playing. – Scott Yanow

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