DON BYRON NEW GOSPEL QUINTET — Love, Peace And Soul (2012) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Don Byron's catalog reveals him to be a musical chameleon and master conceptualist. The range of music he's had fun melding with jazz -- Raymond Scott's, Mickey Katz's -- classical arias and lieder, Blaxploitation funk and more -- is expansive. It should come as no surprise then, that Love, Peace and Soul is an album of (mostly) classic gospel tunes, primarily written by Thomas A. Dorsey. It was Dorsey who kept the blues and ring-shout lineages inherent in gospel as it evolved, and revolutionized the music in the process. The other inspiration here is master guitarist and vocalist Sister Rosetta Tharpe. While she played primarily sacred music drenched in jazz and blues, she moved effortlessly between it and secular tunes. Byron's New Gospel Quintet are D.K. Dyson on vocals, pianist Xavier Davis, bassist Brad Jones, and drummer Pheeroan akLaff, with guest appearances by guitarists Brandon Ross and Vernon Reid, trumpeter Ralph Alessi, vocalist Dean Bowman, and baritone saxophonist J.D. Parran. Byron’s clarinet and akLaff's tom-toms introduce "Highway to Heaven," adding the spirit of Sidney Bechet's and Louis Armstrong's New Orleans jazz to Dorsey's blues before Dyson cuts loose on the vocals; Jones' funky bassline makes the entire thing pop. The spirit of improvisation on this set is alive and well too, as evidenced by "When I've Sung My Last Song," the very next cut. Byron's clarinet and Dyson's vocal play on and around the melody before the band enters, and while Dyson moves more toward the straighter end of the lyric, akLaff creates a slippery sense of time and establishes a jazz groove, and Davis' piano solo solidifies it. Given the feel of the album's first three sacred numbers, the juxtaposition of Eddie Harris' funky party anthem "Sham Time" feels right at home. Even the more reverential numbers, such as Dorsey's "Take My Hand Precious Lord" (introduced by a beautiful duet between Byron's saxophone and Dyson's vocal) carry blues into melodic jazz improvisation. Charles Tindley's "Beam of Heaven" is drenched in early blues, from Jones' bumping bassline, Byron's swooping clarinet, akLaff's shuffling kit, and Ross' acoustic slide guitar. Dyson's vocal is simply sublime. In Dorsey's “I’ve Got to Live the Life I Sing About," the hard blues in Tharpe's example underscore the message in the lyric. Love, Peace and Soul is another successful Byron experiment, but it's more than that. While its grooves are not a vision of gospel music since Dorsey, the music points to possibilities for the future that, like Dorsey's and Tharpe's examples, never lose sight of the blues. 
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1.    Highway To Heaven    6:06
 Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey 
2.    When I've Sung My Last Song    6:22
 Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey 
3.    It's My Desire    7:51
 Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey 
4.    Sham Time  4:47
 Eddie Harris 
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Brandon Ross
5.    Consideration  5:18
 Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey 
Baritone Saxophone – JD Parran
Lead Vocals – Dean Bowman
Trumpet – Ralph Alessi
6.    Take My Hand, Precious Lord    10:07
 Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey 
7.    Beams Of Heaven  3:52
 Charles Albert Tindley 
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Brandon Ross
8.    Hide Me In Thy Bosom    6:21
 Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey 
9.    Himmm    5:28
 Don Byron / D.K. Dyson 
10.    I've Got To Live The Life I Sing About In My Song  7:09
 Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey 
11.    Didn't It Rain  4:31
 Traditional 
Electric Guitar – Vernon Reid
12.    When I've Done My Best    5:33
 Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey 
Credits : 
Baritone Saxophone – Don Byron (tracks: 5)
Bass Clarinet – Don Byron (tracks: 3)
Clarinet [E ♭ Clarinet] – Don Byron (tracks: 1, 10)
Drums – Pheeroan Aklaff
Electric Bass, Acoustic Bass, Backing Vocals – Brad Jones
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – DK Dyson
Piano, Backing Vocals – Xavier Davis
Soprano Clarinet [B ♭ Clarinet], Tenor Saxophone – Don Byron

RAVI COLTRANE — Spirit Fiction (2012) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Despite the metaphysical suggestion in Spirit Fiction's title, this is Ravi Coltrane's most cerebral, process-oriented recording to date. This does not mean, however, that his debut offering for Blue Note Records is dry or academic. There is an abundance of emotion and sensual detail, most of it expressed gently, with the confidence -- and authority -- of a veteran bandleader. Coltrane employs two lineups on the date. First is his longstanding quartet with pianist Luis Perdomo, bassist Drew Gress, and drummer E.J. Strickland. The other is the quintet that appeared on 2000's Round Box: trumpeter Ralph Alessi, pianist Geri Allen, bassist James Genus, and drummer Eric Harland. Coltrane composed six pieces for this session and Alessi, three. There are also readings of Ornette Coleman's "Check Out Time" and Paul Motian's "Fantasm." Spirit Fiction was produced by saxophonist Joe Lovano, who appears on cover tunes. Coltrane's vision of process gets a bold workup here on three tunes. "Roads Cross" is jarring at first, head-to-head knotty, yet it jells about two minutes in. Here and on the seventh cut, conversely named "Cross Roads," the feel is similar. This is because the quartet was recorded as two separate duos playing the tune simultaneously and then mixing them together. The title track offers a further exploration of this technique, but this time, the duos recorded the piece separately and were dubbed on top of one another. In each case, Coltrane's process theory -- using the studio as a fifth member -- actually creates additional strategic possibilities not only of color and texture, but for improvisation. Other highlights are more organic in approach, the gorgeous original ballad "The Change, My Girl" provides a delicate, intricate Coltrane solo full of grace and elegance. Alessi's "Klepto" is a solid, swinging, post-bop groover. On the trumpeter's "Yellow Cat," Coltrane displays his exceptionally well-developed skills as an accompanist. The interplay between Lovano and Coltrane on "Check Out Time" is instinctive, full of delightful dialogue, and a fine contrast in harmonic ideas with stellar playing by Allen. On closer "Marilyn & Tammy," Coltrane's soprano reveals his father's influence in the building of arpeggios, yet the sense of compositional mapmaking is his own. Spirit Fiction is a confident next step for the saxophonist; its execution and ambition offer a glance at where he's been, but more importantly, a solid look at where he's going.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1    Roads Cross 5:04
Written-By – Drew Gress, E.J. Strickland, Luis Perdomo, Ravi Coltrane
2    Klepto 7:30
Written-By – Ralph Alessi
3    Spirit Fiction 2:28
Written-By – Drew Gress, E.J. Strickland, Luis Perdomo, Ravi Coltrane
4    The Change, My Girl 6:46
Written-By – Ravi Coltrane
5    Who Wants Ice Cream 6:32
Written-By – Ralph Alessi
6    Spring & Hudson 2:21
Written-By – Ravi Coltrane
7    Cross Roads 4:03
Written-By – Drew Gress, E.J. Strickland, Luis Perdomo, Ravi Coltrane
8    Yellow Cat 6:50
Written-By – Ralph Alessi
9    Check Out Time 7:26
Written-By – Ornette Coleman
10    Fantasm 4:08
Written-By – Paul Motian
11    Marilyn & Tammy 5:42
Written-By – Ravi Coltrane
Credits :
Bass – Drew Gress (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 7, 11), James Genus (tracks: 2, 5, 8, 9)
Drums – E.J. Strickland (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 11), Eric Harland (tracks: 2, 5, 8, 9)
Piano – Geri Allen (tracks: 2, 5, 8 to 10), Luis Perdomo (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 7, 11)
Tenor Saxophone – Joe Lovano (tracks: 9, 10)
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Ravi Coltrane
Trumpet – Ralph Alessi (tracks: 2, 5, 8, 9)