{"id":380035,"date":"2026-04-07T19:11:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T19:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/380035\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T19:11:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T19:11:10","slug":"bucket-o-new-blue-note","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/380035\/","title":{"rendered":"Bucket o\u2019 New Blue Note"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ayana Contreras<\/a> \u2002 I \u2002Apr. 7, 2026<\/p>\n

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Walter Smith III joins a lofty group of new releases from Blue Note that includes recordings from Ron Carter, Bill Frisell and Immanuel Wilkins.<\/p>\n

(Photo: Travis Bailey)<\/p>\n

Jazz and gospel are close blood relations. And fortunately, those Saturday night and Sunday morning worlds sometimes intertwine. Such is the backbone of Sweet, Sweet Spirit (Blue Note; \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605 53:42), the latest by the fabulous Ron Carter, this time in collaboration with Chicago-based gospel singer\/songwriter and choir director Dr. Ricky Dillard (supported by his New Generation Chorale).<\/p>\n

The album aptly opens with \u201cOpen My Eyes,\u201d not to be confused with \u201cOpen Our Eyes,\u201d which was popularized by the Gospel Clefs in the 1960s and notably covered by Earth, Wind & Fire for their 1974 album of the same name. This opener is a pew-rocking version of the late-19th century hymn. The album draws deeply from the roots of modern gospel music history, as evidenced by tracks like \u201cIn The Garden\u201d and a lovely version of the gospel standard \u201cJust A Closer Walk With Thee\u201d featuring Avery*Sunshine. According to Carter\u2019s website, when his mother, Willie O. Carter, \u201cwas on bed rest toward the end of her life she asked her son to sit with her and sing the hymns of his childhood to keep her spirits elevated.\u201d He obliged, working out bass lines to classic devotionals to comfort her. Now, three decades later, Sweet, Sweet Spirit is here to soothe still more weary souls.<\/p>\n

For Bill Frisell\u2019s album In My Dreams (Blue Note; \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605 62:23), his longtime trio consisting of Thomas Morgan on bass and Rudy Royston on drums is accompanied by Jenny Scheinman on violin, Eyvind Kang on viola and Hank Roberts on cello, frequent Frisell collaborators all joined together in a unique, new configuration: a dream team, if you will.<\/p>\n

Produced by Lee Townsend, the album combines studio work with live performances (primarily recorded at the Denver Jazz Fest, but also recorded in New Haven and Brooklyn). The throughline is a twangy expansive Western feel that Frisell fans know and love, augmented by always-tasteful distortion and electronics. <\/p>\n

This is especially true on cuts like the habanero-tinged wonder \u201cWhen We Go.\u201d \u201cIsfahan,\u201d an interpretation of a composition by Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington, is a windswept West Coast jazz standout. \u201cCurtis\u201d features a solo by Kang that is chockful of a classical Near Eastern sensibility. Very naturally, the whole shebang closes with a rousing version of \u201cHome On The Range\u201d imbued with a sense of longing that lingers long after the album ends.<\/p>\n

Perhaps coincidentally, saxophonist Walter Smith III also tackles \u201cIsfahan\u201d for his latest, Twio, Vol. 2 (Blue Note; \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605 46:56). The album features Smith, bassist Joe Sanders and drummer Kendrick Scott as the core trio. The maestro Ron Carter (uncoincidentally) sits in for Sanders on half of the album\u2019s 10 tracks, including the slinky interpretation of \u201cIsfahan.\u201d Smith shared that while recording, the maestro suggested to the saxophonist (who is roughly half Carter\u2019s age), \u201cDon\u2019t just play what you want. Listen to what I\u2019m doing. I have some ideas that may take you in different directions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saxophonist Branford Marsalis also appears on two cuts: the energetic, conversational \u201cSwingin\u2019 At The Haven\u201d (composed by Ellis Marsalis) and the bopping \u201cCasual\u2013Lee\u201d (a Walter Smith III original). Much of the material is drawn from the 1950s and 1960s (from Monk\u2019s \u201cLight Blue\u201d to Kenny Dorham\u2019s \u201cEscapade\u201d to Wayne Shorter\u2019s \u201cFall\u201d); consequently, the work as a whole evokes an appealing sense of modern jazz (and ample ideas) stripped down to their bare meditative essence. <\/p>\n

Lastly, consisting of four songs on four sides (\u201cWarriors,\u201d \u201cComposition II,\u201d \u201cCharanam\u201d and \u201cEternal\u201d), Live At The Village Vanguard, Vol. 1 by the Immanuel Wilkins Quartet (Blue Note; \u2605\u2605\u2605\u00bd 62:06) is an epic convening. Saxophonist Wilkins (on alto) is joined by Micah Thomas on piano, Ryoma Takenaga on bass and Kweku Sumbry on drums; from the opening track, \u201cWarriors,\u201d they commence in channeling the spirits present at the venerable Village Vanguard. While \u201cWarriors\u201d is made of unabashed fire, \u201cComposition II\u201d is nothing short of a meditation. Thomas\u2019 piano has an almost aquatic quality, like a clear stream flowing over the song in its totality. <\/p>\n

\u201cCharanam\u201d is an Alice Coltrane original which here is reincarnated from her Kirtan (or participatory musical meditation practice). It takes form as a groovy, rollicking hymn more aligned with a late-1960s psychedelic Galt MacDermot soundtrack.<\/p>\n

\u201cEternal\u201d is a somewhat modal, hypnotic ending to the work inviting the listener to meditate on the journey explored on all four sides. DB<\/p>\n

Ordering info: bluenote.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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Hammond came to the blues through the folk boom of the late 1950s and early 1960s, which he experienced firsthand in New York\u2019s Greenwich Village.<\/p>\n

Mar 2, 2026 9:58 PM<\/p>\n

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John P. Hammond (aka John Hammond Jr.), a blues guitarist and singer who was one of the first white American\u2026<\/p>\n

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\u201cCerebral and academic thought is a different way to approach music,\u201d Flea says of his continuing dive into jazz. \u201cI\u2019ve always relied on emotion and intuition and physicality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interview, <\/a>From the Magazine<\/a><\/p>\n

Mar 30, 2026 10:30 PM<\/p>\n

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In the relatively small pantheon of certifiable rock stars venturing into the intersection of pop music and jazz, the\u2026<\/p>\n

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Lettuce, from left: Eric Coomes, Adam Deitch, Ryan Zoidis, Eric Bloom, Adam Smirnoff and Nigel Hall<\/p>\n

Interview, <\/a>From the Magazine<\/a><\/p>\n

Feb 17, 2026 11:05 AM<\/p>\n

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They were Berklee misfits. Neither jazzy enough for the straightahead crowd at Boston\u2019s highly prestigious College of\u2026<\/p>\n

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New Orleans Trad Jazz Camp<\/p>\n

Feb 19, 2026 10:39 AM<\/p>\n

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Jazz camps have exploded around the globe as a summertime tradition for working on your chops and making new friends.\u2026<\/p>\n

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Lovers of the big band experience, clockwise from top left, John Clayton, Leigh Pilzer, Ted Nash, David Pietro and Christine Jensen.<\/p>\n

Feb 10, 2026 11:00 AM<\/p>\n

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The popularity of big band music might have peaked in the 1930s and \u201940s, but despite the many changes on the jazz\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Ayana Contreras \u2002 I \u2002Apr. 7, 2026 Walter Smith III joins a lofty group of new releases…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":380036,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[146,85,46],"class_list":{"0":"post-380035","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-israel"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}