If you just look at the list of guys on this session that was actually recorded back in 2001 (and who knows where it’s been), you’re going to raise a couple eyebrows. How do the names Branford Marsalis/ss-ts, Jeff “Tain” Watts/dr, Marcus Belgrave/tp-fh, Bennie Maupin/woodwinds, Robert Glasper/key and Adam Rudolph/perc grab you as sidemen for the bassist/composer/leader’s lost session.
With charts that are inspired by, but not imitative of Duke Ellington, Hurst puts together intriguing combinations of reeds and horns which serve as frames and draperies for the soloists, such as on the gliding “3 for Laurence” that has Maupin’s alto flute slither around Belgrave’s horn. A moody “Picked from Nick” has some enticing bass clarinet callings, while the deep reeds of “Big Queen” feature enticing melodrama which leads to Branford Marsalis’ soprano exploding like an AK 47. . Marsalis’ soprano is bluesy on “Tigers on Venus” as well as cataclysmic and chaotic on “Middle Passage Suite: Part III.” Hurst’s bass is thick and slinky, using either pizzicato or bowed strings and mixing with the percussion on “Part II” of the suite like garlic and olive oil, blending the mystery of Ellington’s “Caravan” with the undulating tension building of Ravel’s “Bolero.” . Music this well crafted and arranged usually doesn’t sound this exciting-this is one to savor and figure out over many, many listening!
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