Label: Strut Records, 2022
Personnel - Bennie Maupin: reeds, flute; Adam Rudolph: percussion, piano, electronics.
Multireedist Bennie Maupin and percussionist Adam Rudolph, two veterans of the eclectic jazz cosmos, recorded this five-movement album to celebrate the 100th birthday of the great late saxophonist/flutist Yusef Lateef, author of indispensable exotic gems like Eastern Sounds (Prestige, 1961) and Jazz Mood (Savoy Jazz, 1957). Rudolph worked with Lateef for two decades and has been very active lately with his Go Organic Orchestra and trio outfits with saxophonists Dave Liebman and Ralph M. Jones, and drummers Hamid Drake and Tatsuya Nakatani. Not as busy as his musical partner, Maupin is associated with the work of a few jazz giants such as Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock and McCoy Tyner, among others. Both have distinctive work under their own names, and Symphonic Tone Poem for Brother Yusef serves us a flavorful sonic plate of avant-garde values and ambient jazz sensibilities.
“First Movement” adds serene electronics in the background in a refined ambience that includes thumb piano, hand drumming, voice, and other percussive elements that contribute to a triple time flow. Maupin’s sketchy lines are laid atop with an easygoing resolution. “Second Movement”, gracefully executed as a cyclic Zen meditation, resonates with warm, glowing gongs before installing a ritualistic pattern with cymbal splashes and vibing adornments. The flute makes it easier for us to imagine a magical place full of harmony, where our hearts fill up with positive energy.
Despite the quiet avant-garde setting of “Movement Three”, Maupin becomes more impulsive and restless with the time, oscillating between tearful, mysterious and searching. The following track, “Movement Four”, boasts some agitation in the fancy beat but doesn’t discard a few raw elements that consolidate the bridge between the modern and the ancient worlds. A well-outlined bass clarinet spreads duskiness, mystification and some opacity too, in contrast with the sparse sakuhachi flute that soars at a higher height. The enchanted atmosphere ceases when the transfixing rhythm returns, making for a vibrant conclusion. The free spirit of the duo continues on “Movement Five”, whose expert instrumentation - with mesmerizing piano intervals, understated percussion, and palpable clarinet lines - has a lock on the magical spells, but with considerable more darker intonations.
This gifted duo never overcooks, finding the perfect formula to shine, with no need of frills and shocks to provide a wonderful experience for the listener. This is a gracefully executed work where their purity of vision and sense of modernity are going strong.
Favorite Tracks:
02 - Second Movement ► 04 - Fourth Movement ► 05 - Fifth Movement