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Edwin Bayard
Mark Lomax, II and Edwin Bayard - Ogún Meji Duo: Freedom Suite
by Karl Ackermann
More than half a century after Sonny Rollins' civil rights statement Freedom Suite (Riverside, 1958), we have not advanced enough as a species to lay such sentiments to rest. The Ogún Meji Duo—drummer Mark Lomax, II and saxophonist Edwin Bayard—honor Rollins and the suite, with a new and different interpretation of his seminal work. This is the tenth release from the Ohio-based duo and it means to retain the spirit of the original work while bringing new energy to Rollins' ...
read moreBayard, Hulett, Lomax: Trio Plays Mingus
by Karl Ackermann
In the year that would have been Charles Mingus' one-hundredth birthday, there is no shortage of reissues, tribute albums, and previously unreleased sessions such as The Lost Album from Ronnie Scott's (Resonance Records, 2022). But for drummer & composer Mark Lomax, the musical legacy of Mingus has special meaning. His Trio Plays Mingus gives new life to classic Mingus compositions and incorporates a couple of lesser-known works. Mingus preferred the big band format, and recorded only one leader ...
read moreTony Monaco: Four Brothers
by C. Andrew Hovan
The current state of recorded music is in flux in ways like it has never been before. Young audiences have fickle tastes and like to pick and choose tracks on streaming platforms. So the idea of an album being a complete and unique entity is a totally foreign idea to many listeners under 30. Nonetheless, the album concept has been integral to jazz listeners from the debut of the long playing record. Imagine the jazz lexicon without Miles Davis' Kind ...
read moreJames Gaiters' Soul Revival: Understanding Reimagined
by Richard J Salvucci
Anyone struck with a sense of deja vu by this recording, is not alone. Even without reference to John Patton's 1968 album Understanding , the feel of the late '60s and early '70s is overwhelming. Whether it is called Soul Jazz or funk, it has strong echoes of an era when the Hammond B-3 was king. Whoever it was—Charles Earland or maybe Richard Holmes—the music swept listeners along with whatever mix of voices comprised the band. To many, they were, ...
read moreThe Ogún Meji Duo featuring Dr. Mark Lomax, II and Edwin Bayard: #BLACKLIVESMATTER
by Karl Ackermann
The Ogún Meji Duo is drummer/composer/educator Dr. Mark Lomax, II and tenor saxophonist Edwin Bayard. The pair have worked together regularly in duo, trio, and quartet settings, and notably on Lomax' groundbreaking 12-CD digital box-set 400: An Afrikan Epic (CFG Multimedia, 2019). That collection recounts the four-hundred-year history of black people in America from 1619 Jamestown to the current condition of our country. #BLACKLIVESMATTER was recorded in 2014 to memorialize the hundreds of black, unarmed Americans who lost their lives ...
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