Giving tribute to the legendary drummer Art Blakey’s various bands, conductor Ralph Peterson assembles a fresh young band that includes Blakey alumnus Donald Harrison on alto sax while Peterson plays drums and cornet as well.
The hard hitting big band includes the hard hitting Wayne Shorter piece “Free For All” featuring Harrison here and as well on “Pensativa,” “For Paul” “Uranus” and “New York.” Joanne Brackeen’s underrated “Epyptian Dune Dance” gets a fresh workout and Charles Fambrough’s “Little Man” has rich harmonies, but the selling point all around is the inspired drumming traded off by Julian Pardo, Karol Zabka and jas Kayser. Blakey would have liked this album, as he loved having younger players surrounding him.
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