The Terence Blanchard Group | Choices

Tags

African American, Jazz, Terence Blanchard, Trumpet

The Terence Blanchard Group | Choices [Concord Jazz, 2009]

The Terence Blanchard Group

Concord Jazz presents Choices, the new CD from three-time Grammy award winning trumpet player and composer Terence Blanchard. Recorded in March in Blanchard’s hometown of New Orleans at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, Choices addresses the choices we all make in life – both as a society and on a personal level. Blanchard will premiere Choices at a series of concerts at the Ogden in late July which are being filmed for an upcoming documentary.

Accompanying Blanchard on the album are longstanding band members Fabian Almazan on piano, Derrick Hodge on bass and Kendrick Scott on drums, along with newcomer Walter Smith lll on saxophone, all of whom wrote significant track contributions to the CD as well (a complete track listing is attached to this release.) Guest artists include writer, speaker, educator and activist Dr. Cornel West, critically-acclaimed guitarist and Blanchard protégé Lionel Louke, and singer, musician and composer Bilal. West performs spoken word pieces on the album with Bilal providing vocals on several of the tracks.

Lonnie Plaxico Group | Ancestral Devotion

Tags

African America, Bass, Jazz Funk

Here’s a tasty little gem with a retro jazz funk vibe wrapped around the edges for the music lovers out there …

Lonnie Plaxico Group | Ancestral Devotion

Lonnie Plaxico Group

Lonnie Plaxico, the middle child in a large family of outstanding musicians. He was born and raised in Chicago, where his inherited gift of music was discovered and nurtured. Lonnie Plaxico started playing music at an early age; by the age of twelve he had taught himself how to play the electric bass. At the age of fourteen he was performing along side several prominent Chicago Jazz figures.

Plaxico’s first recording featuring his family’s band took place when he was just sixteen years old. He ventured more into Chicago’s music scene, renowned for its mix of jazz, funk and blues as he enhanced his musical skills. Lonnie Plaxico became professional, known for playing the electric and acoustic bass with equal facility.

Source: CDBaby.com