Detroit-bred trombonist Phil Ranelin has been in the forefront of outside-in music as well as having a background in the Motown scene back in the day. This two disc set is a retrospective of his highly fertile past 16 years with Wide Hive Records, focusing on albums like Inspiration, A Living A New Day, Reminsicence: Live!, Perserverence and Portrait in Blue. The guest list of sidemen is encyclopedic, but just to name a few, it includes Kamasi Washington/ts, Henry Franklin/b, Zane Musa/as-ss, Big Black/congas and Pharoah Sanders/ts. Any questions so far?
The songs all range in the 5-9 minute mark, so the solos are held in track while the energy percolates over on every piece. Rich textures of saxes and reeds abound on pieces like the driving “Freddie’s Groove” which includes Sanders’ passionate tenor and wondrous harmonies bop with Ranelin out front on the classic “Horace’s Scope.” A lovely cadence of “Blue Bossa” features Calvin Key’s rich guitar and Donald Baker’s drums riding of the whip.
Danny Grissett’s piano does some marvelous harmonies on “Close Encounter” and Kamasi Washington charges ahead with Franklin holding down the bass fort on “Perseverence. ” A couple of sessions hae Ranelin leading a quintet, with the team glowing on “Spiritual Vibrations” and David Cowan strutting his sticks for “Black On The Nile.” All throughout, Ranelin’s horn glows like an autumn sunset, and while the harmonies and solos are adventurous, they are never inaccessible, always reigned in by the deep rivulets of the rhythm sections. This is an exciting and inspiring retrospective of a forward looking artist.