Artistic Director Speaks - Ambrose Akinmusire
by Ken Pickering – June 6, 2014
twitter: @ken_pickering
One young(ish) jazz artist garnering an extraordinary amount of attention, particularly in the last couple of years is Oakland born trumpeter and Blue Note recording artist Ambrose Akinmusire. His name began to pop regularly with IJFO (International Jazz Festivals Organization) members at our fall booking sessions in New York. In fact, members of the IJFO collectively agreed to focus on a number of talented rising star artists that as a group we identified to not only deserve wider recognition, but also had the capacity to develop into future jazz stars / headliners. This year we are hosting three of those artists – Darcy James Argue (June 20), Tigran - Shadow Theater (June 28) and Ambrose Akinmusire.
Since I’ve only had one opportunity to hear Ambrose Akinmusire live, that was a couple of years ago at the Blue Note when he guested with Jack DeJohnette's band, that also included Rudresh Mahanthappa (at the fest with his band Gamak, June 22) – I must say I’m really looking forward to hearing his band live on stage for the very first time!
Since winning the Thelonious Monk trumpet competition in 2007, he's been on one helluva tear and continually on the move. Ambrose was mentored in his early career by Steve Coleman and quickly began to pile up awards and commissions – notably the 2012 Trumpet player of the year in Downbeat Critics Poll and the JJA Jazz Awards, the recent Doris Duke Impact Award 2014 designed to support artists with the creation and public performance of their work and the Paul Acket Artist Deserving of Wider Recognition award from the North Sea Festival.
With roots in the Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble, Ambrose was noticed early on by the aforementioned Steve Coleman, joining his Five Elements for a European tour at the tender age of 19. He also studied with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Terence Blanchard at the Thelonious Monk Institute in LA before working with Vijay Iyer, Jason Moran and Esperanza Spalding in NYC.
His first albums raised some eyebrows – many expected to hear some blazing trumpet driven hard bop but that just isn’t the way Ambrose Akinmusire rolls. In possession of a muscular mercurial sound that serves him well in all contexts, his vision is eclectic, imaginative and poetic – a new music for the 21st century that resists limitation, that’s relevant and that exemplifies an exciting vibrancy that can be found in the best of today’s creative jazz artists around the world.
His album debut on Blue Note When the Heart Emerges Glistening was named by NY Times jazz critic Nate Chinen as his #1 choice in his best of the year list for 2011 – high praise indeed. Here's a track. All About Jazz review.
With the follow up, this year’s the imagined savior is far easier to paint Ambrose further expands a compositional approach that he’s increasingly focused on in recent years, broadening his palette through the employment of voices and additional musicians to provide more colour in a new larger sonic framework that’s reinforced by the core strength of his rock solid quintet (his touring band) with Walter Smith 111 – saxophone, Sam Harris – piano, Harish Raghavan – bass and Justin Brown – drums. Here's a video of Ambrose talking about the process of making of this album
Vocalists Becca Stevens, Theo Bleckmann (check out his Kate Bush album on Winter & Winter) and Canadian Cold Specks are featured on the new album along with the Osso String Quartet, flutist Elena Penderhughes and guitarist Charles Altura. His inspiration for this music comes from external sources (rather than internal or personal) – influenced by people, characters, documentaries and a vivid imagination – and shows a marked development in Akinmusire’s music.
Although the songs are extremely varied in approach, a commonality is illustrated by a certain poetic moodiness and mystery that runs through the album, in no small part due to his attraction to a slowly evolving compositional process that doesn’t rush the music along; and in that regard the influence of contemporary composers such as Arvo Pärt is acknowledged.
The gorgeous Aslam (Joan) a piece that features vocalist Theo Bleckmann (who connected at the Banff Workshop while working on a Kate Bush song) was inspired by Joni Mitchell – Michel Mercer’s Portrait of Joan in her 2009 book Will You Take Me As I Am; Joni Mitchell’s Blue Period. Last year he was included along with Bill Frisell, Brian Blade, Kathleen Edwards, Rufus Wainwright and other luminaries in the Luminato presentation of Joni: A Portrait in Song - A Birthday Happening Live at Massey Hall.
Rollcall For Those Absent confronts race and fear of blackness head on in a kind of tone poem that has a completely different sound from the rest of the album – with the very young Muna Blake reciting the names of numerous people killed by the police or vigilante action, the most prominent being Trayvon Martin. Ambrose says, “Having a young voice read the names, it’s like the beginning of life talking about the end of life”. The recitation is haunting – I’ve listened to this piece many times - it speaks to a sobering truth that is profound in its sadness.
Suffice it to say that this young artist is developing a very personal vision of jazz that is taking us well beyond the parameters of conventional jazz blowing sessions. Don’t get me wrong – blowing sessions can be electrifying but this is something else. There’s lots to like - Ambrose Akinmusire is an artist to be reckoned with and will continue to be in the years to come. Check him out in his Vancouver debut! With: Walter Smith 111 – saxophone, Sam Harris – piano, Harish Raghavan – bass and Justin Brown – drums.
No comments:
Post a Comment