Ben Williams -][- STATE OF ART [Concord Jazz]

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African American, Bass, Ben Williams, Jazz

Ben Williams - STATE OF ART

Ben Williams -][- STATE OF ART -(MP3)- [Concord Jazz, 2011]

“By definition the bass player is a pivotal figure in jazz, a steward of tonality as well as tempo. Determining a good one can require close listening: that quality reveals itself in the cohesion of the band as well as in the handling of line and phrase. All of this was accounted for in Mr. Williams’s set, which also involved a pair of harmonically sound original compositions and a balance of tradition and novelty.” -Nate Chinen, New York Times

State Of Art is a result of Williams’ first prize in the 2009 Thelonious Monk International Competition for double-bass. The album marks Williams’ first album as a leader, however it is not the bassist’s first time working with the Concord Jazz family.

For the past two years, Williams has been a working member of two Concord Jazz artists’ working bands: vibraphonist Stefon Harris & Blackout, a R&B and hip-hop-tinged group, which calls on Williams’ unique connection with go-go, from his native Washington, DC to inform its sound and pianist Jacky Terrasson’s Trio. Williams was featured on Harris’ 2009 Concord Jazz debut, Urbanus and Terrasson’s 2010 Concord Jazz debut, Push. So it is particularly fitting that he now joins the Concord Jazz roster as a leader in his own right.

Pianist/Composer Falkner Evans’ Point Of The Moon Shines

Tags

Falkner Evans, Jazz, Piano

Falkner Evans (Photo by Jimmy Katz)

The comfort zone is not where a truly creative artist takes up permanent residence. After three trio recordings that established him as one of the most vivid post-bop stylists on the present jazz scene, pianist and composer Falkner Evans has expanded his tonal palette for The Point Of The Moon. The result is his most ambitious and rewarding album, one that demonstrates his growth as a skilled instrumentalist and his newly emerging gifts as a small group arranger. The point of departure for Evans may be solidly crafted modern jazz with nods to hard bop and sights beyond, but his own spin on the tradition has never been so boldly executed.

Utilizing the same rhythm team – bassist Belden Bullock and drummer Matt Wilson – as his acclaimed 2007 album, ARC, Evans broadens the scope of his new recording in the shape of three additional players: tenor saxophonist Greg Tardy, trumpeter Ron Horton and, on the album’s final two tracks, keyboardist Gary Versace. In addition to seven new compositions from the leader, Evans and his compatriots also reinterpret Antonio Carlos Jobim’s bossa nova classic “O Grande Amor” and the Alec Wilder standard “While We’re Young.”