Saturday, November 19, 2005

Jazz label Concord welcomes young talent

Roll over, young lions -- the early-'90s jazzers set on recycling bebop and championed by Wynton Marsalis -- because the new generation is knocking on the door.

Plaudits go to Concord Records for helping to usher in the youth movement by showcasing three of its new signings (trumpeter Christian Scott, keyboardist Taylor Eigsti and vocalist Erin Boheme), first at the Mint in Los Angeles October 25 and then at Dizzy's Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York November 8.

At Dizzy's, Eigsti, 21, put an impressive punch and spark into his set, especially on his energetic version of John Coltrane's "Giant Steps." He also offered a fine duet, "True Colors," with 17-year-old guitar phenom Julian Lage. Boheme, 19, joined the band for four songs, including her original "Don't Be Something You Ain't," a song that lyrically exemplified the evening's accent on subtly breaking out from neocon jazz tastes.

The most dynamic of the trio was Scott, who energetically put funk and rock into the mix, while blowing a soulful trumpet that pierced but also hummed. The title track to his new album, "Rewind That," set for a February 28 release, got his set off to a hot start. Look for him to enjoy a career with long legs.

BET Jazz, which has linked with Concord to present three 30-minute specials -- one devoted to each of the fledgling artists -- filmed the proceedings at Dizzy's as well as the triad's performances at the Anguilla Tranquility Jazz Festival the following week. The specials will air in January.

ON THE HORIZON

Blue Note Records is filling up its 2006 calendar with noteworthy CDs, including a solo piano outing by Gonzalo Rubalcaba -- appropriately titled "Solo," arriving March 7 -- and a Wes Montgomery tribute by guitarist Pat Martino, out February 7.

Pianist Andrew Hill, who began recording for the label in 1963, has re-signed with Blue Note for the third time. Coming up is a quintet release, "Time Lines," out February 21. And vocalist Cassandra Wilson's long-awaited project with producer T Bone Burnett, "Thunderbird," will finally see the light of day in March.

At Verve, Roy Hargrove, the hardest working trumpeter in the jazz business, releases "Reflections and Distortions," a two-CD set, February 28. One disc features his quintet, the other his funky RH Factor band. Also out February 28, harmonica ace Toots Thielemans' "Over the Rainbow."

Columbia's marquee jazz release is banjo master Bela Fleck's "The Hidden Land," which will go on sale January 31. The CD reunites Fleck and his group -- including bassist Victor Wooten, percussionist Future Man and saxist Jeff Coffin -- after a yearlong hiatus.

Also on January 31, saxophonist Chris Potter, a steady member of Dave Holland's quintet, releases yet another of his potent albums, "Underground," on Sunnyside, with a band including keyboardist Craig Taborn and the underrated guitarist Wayne Krantz.

Telarc Records is looking ahead to two strong piano-based releases: Michel Camino's "Rhapsody in Blue" with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra (February 28) and Hiromi Uehara's "Spiral" (January 17), the follow-up to 2004's "Brain." She delivers eight new compositions that range from funk to avant-garde


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