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Alex Harding

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10
Album Review

Kahil El'Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble: Open Me: A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit

Read "Open Me: A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit" reviewed by Chris May


The first few bars of Open Me: A Higher Consciousness Of Sound And Spirit promise the listener is in for a treat. Corey Wilkes' muted trumpet plays Miles Davis' “All Blues" counterpointed by Alex Harding's rugged baritone saxophone and Kahil El'Zabar's ankle bells and kalimba. Here is Ethnic Heritage Ensemble in all its enchanting bare-bones singularity, barely a year since the release of the masterpiece Spirit Gatherer: A Tribute To Don Cherry (Spiritmuse). Eighty minutes later, the ...

32
Album Review

Planet D Nonet: Blues to Be There

Read "Blues to Be There" reviewed by Jack Bowers


The subtitle of Blues to be There, the Detroit-based Planet D Nonet's latest album (recorded in June and July 2022), is “A Salute to Duke Ellington." As with almost any bow to the Duke, it encompasses a healthy measure of Billy Strayhorn as well. Ellington wrote or co-wrote thirteen of the album's persuasive numbers, Strayhorn five including the classics “Take the 'A' Train" and “U.M.M.G." As for Ellington, he is represented almost exclusively by lesser-known compositions, most ...

12
Album Review

Kahil El'Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble: Spirit Gatherer

Read "Spirit Gatherer" reviewed by Chris May


Anyone who was chair of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians for a decade knows a thing or two about keeping a group of independently minded artists focused on a common goal. Drummer and percussionist Kahil El'Zabar continues to demonstrate that with his Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, an acoustic, improvising trio with an African foundation that has been recording since 1981. Most of the musicians who have passed through the group have been longtime members. The 2023 lineup comprises ...

8
Album Review

The Paxton / Spangler Septet: Ugqozi

Read "Ugqozi" reviewed by Chris May


Ugqozi is a celebration of modern, urban African music, especially that from South Africa, with which co-leaders trombonist John “Tbone" Paxton and percussionist RJ Spangler have been in love for decades. It is also an affirmation of the vibrant Detroit scene of which the multi-generational Paxton / Spangler Septet is a part. Actually, the band is not a septet. Depending on whether one goes by the sleeve credits or the press release, it is either an octet ...

Album Review

Alex Harding, Lucian Ban: Dark Blue

Read "Dark Blue" reviewed by Neri Pollastri


Duo estremamente longevo questo tra il pianista di origini rumene Lucian Ban e il sassofonista di Detroit Alex Harding, questo Dark Blue è il loro quarto album, ma esce a undici anni dal precedente. E la loro intesa è tangibile lungo tutto l'arco del programma, che include solo brani originali (sei di Harding e cinque di Ban) e che ricorda, per intima concentrazione, storici duetto quali quelli di Steve Lacy e Mal Waldron o di Dollar Brand e Archie Shepp. ...

54
Album Review

Alex Harding - Lucian Ban: Dark Blue

Read "Dark Blue" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


Lucian Ban (piano) and Alex Harding (woodwinds) have performed and recorded together for 20-years besides their prominent activities within global progressive jazz and improvisational circles. The universal language of jazz is conveyed here as Detroit-reared Harding and the Romanian born pianist gel to a variety of tempos amid solstice, reflective sentiment, off-centered blues balladry and bouncy grooves. Toss in some lyrically resplendent tapestries of sound and a crystalline audio production, you are liable to become entranced by the duo's moody ...

2
Album Review

Francisco Mora Catlett: Francisco Mora Catlett: Afro Horn MX

Read "Francisco Mora Catlett: Afro Horn MX" reviewed by Steve Bryant


When Afro-Mexican Drummer Francisco Mora Catlett first came to this country in the1970s, he dreamed of playing drums for the Sun Ra Arkestra. Not only did Mora achieve his dream, he also forged a lifelong relationship with drum legend Max Roach, which resulted in his performing in Roach's seminal drum ensemble, M'Boom. As a composer and bandleader in Detroit, Mora focused on creating Music of “The Afro-Americas," a vision which encompassed fusing the music of Cuba, Brazil with American modern ...

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60

Performance / Tour

Eve Packer / Composers Collaborative (Tonight) Morrison Motel (Tue) Alex Harding (Wed) & More at the Cornelia Street Cafe

Eve Packer / Composers Collaborative (Tonight) Morrison Motel (Tue) Alex Harding (Wed) & More at the Cornelia Street Cafe

Source: All About Jazz

October 10, 2005 To: Listings/Critics/Features From: JAZZ PROMO SERVICES Press Contact: JIM EIGO, [email protected] Cornelia Street Cafe 29 Cornelia Street Greenwich Village, NY 10014 Tel: 212-989-9319 Fax: 212-243-4207 Web: corneliastreetcafe.com between West 4th and Bleecker Sts, Greenwich Village 1,9 Subway to Sheridan Square; A, C, E, B, D, F to West 4th St. “a culinary as well as a cultural landmark" Mayoral Proclamation, City of New York 1987 This Week at Cornelia Street Cafe Oct. 10 thg Oct. 16 MONDAY ...

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Blues to Be There

Eastlawn Records
2023

buy

Spirit Gatherer:...

Self Produced
2023

buy

Ugqozi

Eastlawn Records
2022

buy

Dark Blue

Sunnyside Records
2019

buy

Be Known...

Self Produced
2019

buy

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