Label: Mack Avenue Records, 2023
Personnel - Billy Childs: piano; Ambrose Akinmusire: trumpet; Scott Colley: bass; Brian Blade: drums.
The Winds of Change is the third consecutive studio album from American pianist and composer Billy Childs on Mack Avenue Records. Known for his determined keyboardic touch, Childs knows the tradition like the back of his hand, boasting in his curriculum collaborations with iconic trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, fusion guitarist Allan Holdsworth and jazz singer Diane Reeves. As a bandleader, he normally displays this luxurious post-bop sheen that is vouched by his extraordinary new peers: trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, bassist Scott Colley, and drummer Brian Blade.
“The Great Western Loop” lays out the stakes with focused dynamics. Titled after the 7,000-mile hiking trail that links Southern California to Vancouver to the Grand Canyon, the piece sports a resolute rhythmic spark and rich textures. Akinmusire defines the main melody with imaginative leaps, and returns to it briefly after the pianist's ripe solo. He also stretches here with an impressive range and balance.
The album builds on interesting themes, and the title track starts and ends dramatically rubato with some pronounced slopes at the base. Alternatively, the middle section takes the form of a triple-metered dance whose harmonic taste recalls Wayne Shorter. The quartet effortlessly guides “The End Of Innocence” with a 4/4 tempo. This previously recorded cut features tight interplay and a fine bass solo, but “Master of the Game”, a film noir-inspired tune, is where a mix of modal jazz and classical idioms coalesce. The acute flutter in Akinmusire’s trumpetism creates a truly poetic power that, frequently, draws responses in the pianist's comping.
Before the album's conclusion with “I Thought I Knew” (delivered in trio), one may indulge in two selections not composed by Childs. They are Chick Corea’s pristine “Crystal Silence”, softly caressed by Blade’s effective brushwork; and Kenny Barron’s “The Black Angel”, which feels immensely blissful in nature.
With Akinmusire as a major asset throughout, the rhythm section sounds quite inspired, whether providing solid foundation or creating valid rhythmic undercurrents.
Favorite Tracks:
01 - The Great Western Loop ► 04 - Master of the Game ► 06 - The Black Angel