Friday, October 7, 2011

Bassist Harrison Bankhead Leads A Sextet On His "Harvest Moon" CD


Bassist Harrison Bankhead has been mixing it up and providing strong bass foundations for many of Chicago's most advanced and illustrious jazz masters for a number of years.

He steps out on his own with a very creative and able sextet, and you can hear them in action on Morning Sun, Harvest Moon (Engine 039). This is freely articulated music with focus. You hear a little of the tribal hipness of Sun Ra and the Art Ensemble, with some Afro-jazz riff grooves and melodic solowork, and there are various exhilaratingly free blowouts and some Ayler-ish folk strains.

He's put together a very nice lineup in Ed Wilkerson and Mars Williams on reeds, the violin of James Sanders, drums and percussion by Avreeayl Ra, and percussion from Ernie Adams. They form a cohesive unit with plenty of fire and sound color. And everybody gives the music a kick, whether soloing individually, collectively, or getting a sound across.

Excellent free date here. Highly recommended.

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