DarkTreeBrightLight

    Maurice Brown: Musical Manifestations of Mood I remember first seeing Maurice Brown play in a live performance video I watched about two years ago. It might have been a charity event or a special Birthday performance, but for some reason there was an absurdly talented group of musicians sharing the stage (I’m talking Robert Glasper, Derrick Hodge, Chris Dave and a handful of others). Brown bore an eerie resemblance to Miles Davis when he stepped onto the stage and blasted off a trumpet solo clad in a long open coat, a wide brimmed hat and dark sunglasses (check out the picture of Davis on the cover of his Autobiography for an idea). Brown’s assertive playing and cool swagger impressed me, though I have to admit that I forgot all about him until I discovered his 2017 album The Mood several months later.  Full album stream of The Mood   Brown’s most recent album The Mood lives up to his consistently impressive discography. Brown is perhaps ...

Virgin Forest: A Beginner’s Guide to the Music of Lionel Loueke I first discovered guitarist, percussionist and vocalist Lionel Loueke in a youtube video uploaded by Jazz Night in America. The video shows a performance by the ‘Blue Note All Star’ band Our Point of View (a play on the 1963 Herbie Hancock album My Point of View). I should explain for some context that I have an obsession with pianist Robert Glasper’s style of playing, so I frequently watch videos of his live performances. This obsession has been very educational for me, since in watching his performances I invariably end up discovering bandmates of his who are equally impressive musicians themselves, and as a result I gain a better understanding of the current landscape of jazz talent. Yes, I clicked on the Our Point of View performance to see Glasper play, but as usual, I came away with a new musician to google, follow and subsequently obsess over. Our Point of View is comprised of Robert Glasper, Ambrose ...