In A Mellow Tone, June 5: new releases from living legends
Featuring new releases from Betty Bryant, Houston Person, George Coleman, Charles Lloyd, Charles McPherson, Kenny Barron and Amina Claudine Meyers
In this show I’ll be featuring new releases from jazz artists, all over the age of 80. The show will start with the oldest - Betty Bryant, a 94 year-old pianist and vocalist now based in Los Angeles. Dubbed “Cool Miss B” by her fellow musicians, she started her career in Kansas City, where she was mentored by Jay McShann.
On her new album, Lotta Livin’, she is joined by Robert Kyle on tenor sax, flute and harmonica, Richard Simon on acoustic bass, Tony Guerrero on trumpet, and Kenny Elliott on drums.
We will also hear from two new releases featuring 89 year-old Houston Person. He plays tenor sax and is best known for his extensive work with the singer Etta Jones. We will hear tracks from his recent release with Emmett Cohen and from the recent release with Peter Hand, Blue Topaz.
In 2023, Houston Person performed live with Emmett Cohen at Birdland.
Also 89 years old, is George Coleman, another tenor saxophone player. We will hear from two new releases featuring him - one with the group One For All, and the other with Yotam Silberstein. Coleman has played with such artists as Ray Charles, B.B. King, Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock. He played alongside Tony Williams and Freddie Hubbard on this classic album.
Charles Lloyd, at 86, is still actively performing live as well as recording. We will hear two tracks from his new double album, The Sky Will still Be There Tomorrow. On this album, Lloyd plays tenor sax and flute. He is accompanied by pianist Jason Moran, bassist Larry Grenadier, and drummer Brian Blade. Charles Lloyd explains the origins of this recording in the liner notes.
A child of the South, I picked magnolia blossoms to place in my window. Later, in the dark of night when I had the radio under my pillow listening to Lady Day, the warm breezes would carry its sweet, paradise scent to me and offset the stench of racism that permeated the air. ...
Ever the dreamer - as a young man - I naively thought I could wipe out the ugliness in the world with beauty. In this era of my youth there was a collective effort through song, through protest, through writing, through art – to right the ship. I was intent on making a contribution to humanity. For a brief time we perceived a change… but it was not lasting and began to crumble. In my wildest dreams I never imagined the world to be in this place. Now.
Under the imposed seclusion of COVID and the intense rise of violence over the Spring & Summer of 2020, I became increasingly agitated. Emotions gone haywire. My heart in knots, my mind at war with the situation. I came to the lunch table one day and told Dorothy that I wanted to go into the studio with Jason, Larry and Brian to make an offering of tenderness. ...
...
And so, All My Relations, my inclination to put down the saxophone and go back to the woods has been staved off for another season. This is my offering to you.
The soon to be 85 year-old alto saxophonist, Charles McPherson will also be featured, with his new live release Reverence. McPherson played with Charles Mingus from 1960 to 1974. McPherson describes the album in this video.
Kenny Barron, at 80 years old, is the youngster on this show. Barron is a pianist and played with Yusef Lateef, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, and others. I featured his piano playing on the Rabble Without A Cause Record Store Day show, from a 1972 concert with Yusef Lateef. On his new album, Beyond This Place, he plays with his longtime rhythm section of bassist Kiyoshi Kitagawa and drummer Johnathan Blake, along with the vibraphonist Steve Nelson and Immanuel Wilkins on alto sax.
The show will end with a track from the pianist Amina Claudine Myers, 82 years-old, on a new release with Wadada Leo Smith, Central Park’s Mosaics of Reservoir, Lake, Paths and Gardens. On this track, “When Was”, she is playing solo. I will be featuring more of this album on Rabble Without A Cause, broadcasting right after In A Mellow Tone.
Amina Claudine Myers was involved with the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and also played with Lester Bowie and Henry Threadgill.
You can listen live on 93.1 FM in Ottawa on June 5 at 9 p.m., or online at CKCUFM.com. The show will also be available for on demand streaming after broadcast.