Frank Wess, Magic 101

Could it really have been 55 years ago or so that I first heard Frank Wess (without knowing) on a Count Basie Roulette 78 rpm record I bought for nine cents at the Butler 5 & 10? I was four or five. It was my first jazz record. And it makes sense given all that, that he should be 91 years old this year! 91! He was only 36 then!

The good news is that both he and I are still alive. The Butler 5 & 10 is gone. Count Basie is gone. But Frank Wess is very much NOT gone and I have the pleasure to write about his new album, recorded several years ago when he was a sprightly 89. Aptly titled Magic 101 (IPO C1023), it is indeed magic. Frank joins with the still wonderful sounding Kenny Barron on piano in duet and quartet performances with Kenny Davis (bass) and Winard Harper (drums).

It's music that speaks directly to your soul. Standards, jazz classics and a Frank Wess penned "Pretty Lady" grace your ears for nearly an hour of the beautiful, classic art of improvisation.

Frank comes through with incredible presence. The sound is still there, in that uncanny combination of swing and bop tenorism that was always his. It's burnished and completely essentialist playing, with nothing extraneous, nothing extra, nothing unneeded. And there is total command--not a hint of faltering that you can get with players of venerable years.

This is mostly the art of the ballad. And Frank is the master. The master is alive and very much well, 55 years after my first encounter. Thank you Frank!!

Ernest Dawkins, Afro Straight

Ernest Dawkins has been a pivotal figure on the Chicago jazz scene for many decades now, as central member of the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, as leader of his New Horizons Ensemble.

He steps out today with a new ensemble devoted to straight-ahead Afro-Latin tinged jazz. There's Ernest on alto and tenor plus trumpet (Corey Wilkes), piano (Willerm Delisfort), acoustic bass (Junius Paul) and drums (Isaiah Spencer). Latin percussion in the form of conga and/or bongos liven up most of the tracks.

There are two Dawkins originals and a slew of classic jazz numbers, from "Mr. PC" and "Footprints" to "God Bless the Child" and "Softly as in a Morning Sunrise."

Ernest's arrangements are solid hard-bopping entities that recall the classic Blue Note-ish vein, with plenty of room for solos.

Everybody cooks and the soloing is strong. Dawkins reminds us here that he can run with whatever pack he sees fit. He is as convincing as leader-arranger-soloist in this ensemble as he has been with the more Afro-Avant excursions for which he is known.

Most importantly, it is alive and vibrant. This is not a retreat or a mannerist rehash. It is a full-out explorations of roots, with all the fire and commitment of a living art form, as brought to you by an important artist of the music today. Dig in.