You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Terri Lyne Carrington<br />
The Mosaic Project<br />
Concord 33016<br />
HHHH1/2<br />
If there were a search for a new<br />
artistic director for the Kennedy<br />
Center’s Mary Lou Williams’<br />
Women in Jazz Festival, Terri Lyne<br />
Carrington would rank high on the<br />
list. The Mosaic Project embodies<br />
all of the festival’s lofty goals of<br />
shedding light on female jazz artists<br />
and many ways exceeds the festival’s<br />
sometimes stodgy stylistic<br />
limitations.<br />
The Mosaic Project brims with<br />
a multi-generational cast of musicians<br />
that includes pianists Patrice<br />
Rushen, Helen Sung and Geri Allen,<br />
trumpeter Ingrid Jensen and percussionist<br />
Sheila E., along with vocalists Gretchen Parlato,<br />
Carmen Lundy, Dianne Reeves, Nona Hendryx<br />
and Cassandra Wilson. One of the many winning<br />
qualities about The Mosaic Project is that<br />
despite its multifaceted characteristics, which<br />
sublimely mingle the acoustic with the electric<br />
and various idioms and genres, the disc boasts<br />
a consistency and durable compositions for the<br />
musicians to truly delve inside rather than skate<br />
lightly above.<br />
Carrington radiates as a sensitive drummer;<br />
she helps propel rhythmic intensity on material<br />
such as Bernice Johnson Reagon’s “Echo” along<br />
with Sheila E.’s equally propulsive Afro-Latin<br />
percussion beats underneath Reeves’ majestic<br />
voice as she sings about the injustices suffered by<br />
women and wrongfully imprisoned men.<br />
On her original “Insomniac,” Carrington<br />
gets to showcase her gift for modern post-bop as<br />
she steers the rubato swing alongside Esperanza<br />
Spalding’s shadowy bass, providing a festive<br />
springboard for Jensen’s clarion trumpet asides<br />
and Tineke Postma’s tart and serpentine improvisations<br />
on alto saxophone. Still, Carrington<br />
doesn’t overshadow her accomplished band<br />
mates in efforts to prove that she’s the leader.<br />
She knows how to support and caress the music,<br />
perhaps best illustrated on the songs showcasing<br />
the vocalists, such as the shining makeovers<br />
of Al Green’s “Simply Beautiful” featuring<br />
Wilson and Irving Berlin’s “I Got Lost In<br />
His Arms,” and the Beatles’ “Michelle” featuring<br />
Parlato. On the haunting original “Show Me<br />
A Sign,” Lundy turns in one of her finest performances<br />
in recent years.<br />
Another reason why The Mosaic Project<br />
excels is that Carrington and her cohorts have<br />
delivered an album that doesn’t shy away from<br />
gender politics, but the music and themes aren’t<br />
so hermetic and preachy that it sucks all the joy<br />
out if it. —John Murph<br />
The Mosaic Project: Transformation; I Got Lost In His Arms; Michelle;<br />
Magic And Music; Echo; Simply Beautiful; Unconditional<br />
Love; Wistful; Crayola; Soul Talk; Mosaic Triad; Insomniac; Show<br />
Me A Sign; Sisters On The Rise (A Transformation). (71:56)<br />
Personnel: Terri Lyne Carrington, drums, percussion, voice (2, 4,<br />
5, 11, 13, 14); Geri Allen, piano, keyboards (1, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13);<br />
Dee Dee Bridgewater, vocals (10), Anat Cohen, clarinet, bass clarinet,<br />
soprano saxophone; Angela Davis, commentary (5); Sheila E.,<br />
percussion (1, 5, 6, 10); Nona Hendryx, vocals (1, 14); Ingrid Jensen,<br />
trumpet, flugelhorn; Mimi Jones, bass (4); Carmen Lundy, vocals<br />
(13); Chia-Yin Carol Ma, violin; Hailey Niswanger, flute; Gretchen<br />
Parlato, vocals (2, 3); Timeke Postma, alto saxophone; Dianne<br />
Reeves, vocals (5); Shea Rose, vocals (14); Patrice Rushen, piano,<br />
keyboards (1, 2, 5, 10, 11); Esperanza Spalding, bass, vocals (7, 9);<br />
Helen Sung, piano, keyboards (2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12); Linda Taylor,<br />
guitars; Cassandra Wilson, vocals (6).<br />
Ordering info: concordmusicgroup.com<br />
SEPTEMBER 2011 DOWNBEAT 49