Greg Skaff, feat. Ron Carter and Albert ''Tootie'' Heath, Polaris ****

Guitarist Greg Skaff, who hails from Wichita, Kansas told Jazz Guitar Today recently that second great Miles Davis quintet bassist Ron Carter and famed drummer Albert ''Tootie'' Heath ''worked together with Bobby Timmons in 1961 and they recorded …

Published: 26 Mar 2021. Updated: 3 years.

Guitarist Greg Skaff, who hails from Wichita, Kansas told Jazz Guitar Today recently that second great Miles Davis quintet bassist Ron Carter and famed drummer Albert ''Tootie'' Heath ''worked together with Bobby Timmons in 1961 and they recorded together in 1993 as part of the Riverside Reunion Band, but they had not worked together in 30 years. Tootie was eager to play with Ron again, so that’s how I got him to come on board.''

That's worth getting this straightahead record for alone. Skaff is excellent with these two giants. On 'Caminando' the knack is in the incisive quality of the guitarist's breakaway. And on this track the way Carter scythes out space for himself is pure craft. And listen how the woodiness of the instrument is beautifully caught. Carter's lovely tune 'Little Waltz' that the bassist played with Timmons on 1966 Prestige release The Soul Man gets both duo and trio treatments. For voicings most of all, gravitate to Skaff on Duke Ellington's 'Lady of the Lavender Mist.' Out now on SMK/Smoke Sessions

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Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders, The London Symphony Orchestra, Promises *****

Listen in one sitting, don't whatever you do shuffle in and out because Promises is long form. At just over three quarters of an hour the suite, more a symphony, you know from the first stirrings of its nine movements is intent on taking its time. …

Published: 26 Mar 2021. Updated: 2 years.

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Listen in one sitting, don't whatever you do shuffle in and out because Promises is long form. At just over three quarters of an hour the suite, more a symphony, you know from the first stirrings of its nine movements is intent on taking its time. Pharoah Sanders practically levitates on top of the Floating Points (Sam Shepherd) sound painstakingly put together over half a decade, the London Symphony Orchestra adding heavyweight orchestral input as well. For the fullest effect of what they do go to the 9th movement. The second movement becomes even more serene and there is a lot of textural subtlety in the wash that builds up shaped around an elongated 7-note motif that lifts and separates throughout. In a sense the whole album is a variation, a modality and launch pad for improvisation, on this phrase. More detailed fills heap up to offer a variety of delights from squealy Hammond organ swells to the dinkiness of a xylophone chime or the unearthliness of electronic construction. Sanders is particularly magisterial at the beginning of the fifth movement and makes a journey back to a masterwork of his such as Karma an immediate priority. Overall a very respectful project full of an elegant joy and moving flashes of a remarkable spirit. Out today on Luaka Bop

Floating Points (above left) and Pharoah Sanders

photo: Eric Welles-Nyström