Trombone man Corey Henry grew up in the Treme section of New Orleans amongst musicians. A member of Galactic since 2009 (the internationally known Louisiana jam-band), his solo debut on Louisiana Red Hot Records is a 2016 Best-Of entry. Lapeitah (pronounced la-pee-tah) is a traditional Crescent City dance and dance you will on this kitchen-sink of a mix that contains eight vocalists (check out Living Colour's Corey Glover singing lead on Jimi Hendrix's "If 6 Was 9" at blog's end), four trumpeters (including his daughter Jazz Henry and the last known recordings of Travis "Trumpet Black" Hill who died from a dental infection in 2015 at the age of 28), five saxophonists, two trombonists, two tuba men, four bassists, three keyboardists, four drummers and an electric violinist. Henry co-produced and wrote or co-wrote nine of the 10 barn-burning totally funked-up joyous tracks. THIS is the album that Trombone Shorty has yet to make.
The Ken Schaphorst Big Band instructs How To Say Goodbye (JCA Recordings) on its fourth CD. Filled with longing odes like "Take Back The Country" for trombonist Bob Brookmeyer [1929-2011], an outspoken liberal who bought land in Canada upon Bush beating Gore in 2000, and "Blues For Herb," for trumpeter Herb Pomeroy [1930-2007]. Both men were key in Schaphorst's development as a trumpeter, composer, band leader and educator at the New England Conservatory. Students of all three men provide stirring solos, not the least of which is Donny McCaslin's tenor sax (a sax that graced David Bowie's Blackstar). "Amnesia" takes tango as its base while "Mbira #1" and "Mbira #2" takes its cue from the Southern African country of Zimbabwe. Trumpeter Ralph Alessi solos madly on closer "Descent." "Green City" is a swing and "Global Sweat" depicts a gathering storm, ending in a pouring rain of interplay like the finale of a fireworks display. Highly recommended.
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