Donald Harrison continues to compose and perform amazing and entertaining music. A former member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Harrison struck out with Terence Blanchard and formed a duo. His recordings hit such a nice sweet spot with me because they are contemporary but in the tradition. This New Orleans native always swings. Pick this one up and you will not be disappointed.
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 »
