Jazz Ensemble Of Memphis - Playing In The Yard
Jazz Ensemble Of Memphis - Playing In The Yard
Memphis International Records, 2024
Memphis, Tennessee vibrates to its own beat. It’s in the soil at the apex of the Mississippi Delta from where its soul rises. Known for its incubation and birth of rock and roll, Memphis also has a rich jazz tradition, one acknowledged on Playing In The Yard, the debut recording of the Jazz Ensemble of Memphis. It is a continuation of a musical dialog that began in 1959 with the release of Downhome Reunion: Young Men From Memphis (Fresh Sound), featuring wunderkind at the time, Booker Little, Louis Smith, Frank Strozier, George Coleman, Phineas Newborn, Calvin Newborn, Gorage Joyner, and Charles Crosby.
The Jazz Ensemble of Memphis is a collective of young (two members were teenagers at the time of the recording) and precocious musicians ready to set the local music on its ear. That is a tall order when that locale is Memphis. The ensemble comprises tenor saxophonist Charles Pender II, trumpeter Martin Carodine, keyboardist and vibraphonist DeAnte Payne, bassist Liam O’Dell, and drummer Kurtin Gray. The band establishes their southern urban grove with Sonny Rollins’ “Playin’ In The Yard” from the tenor saxophonist’s Nex Album (Milestone, 1972). That groove is informed by the laconic, funky track of Booker T. and The MGs, The Mar-Keys, and King Curtis. It is an easy groove that is natural, not driven. It passes through this recording like a thick wisp of smoke.
Bassist O'Dell and vibist Payne introduce the first of two looks at Dan Penn’s “The Dark End Of The Street,” divining out of the song its churchy essence. Pender adds his full-throated tenor saxophone, framing the song in 24-ct rhythm and blues. Heartfelt and emotional, the song defines Memphis and her children. Its heady fragrance, that special groove, permeates all the music on this recording. Duke Ellington’s “Things Ain’t What They Used To Be” saunters to the band’s humidity. Trumpeter Carodine pours out a heady solo over Payne’s period-perfect electric piano. Pender adds a robust flute, bringing the old piece over the top.
Freshly distilled by the band is Dizzy Gillespie’s “Night In Tunisia.” Modeled after the Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers performance from that band’s Blue Note album of the same name. What this song does is… swing hard. The closing reprise of “The Dark End Of The Street” with O’Dell’s arco bass closes this near-perfect debut. Bring it on!