Saturday, 23 March/Empire Theatre/7pm
Jazz impressions: Tom Harrell Quintet and Ambrose Akinmusire, trumpet
Tom Harrell, who was acclaimed “2018 Trumpeter of the Year” by the Jazz Journalists Association, joins his expressive brass brother Ambrose Akinmusire for a one-night-only journey through a wide-ranging musical soundscape, at the Empire Theater, San Antonio TX, March 23, 2019, 7:30 PM. Free admission.
With this Quintet, Harrell doubles down to reimagine compositions originally written for his 2016 album, SOMETHING GOLD, SOMETHING BLUE, a two-trumpet experimental group he led featuring Akinmusire and a guitar-based rhythm section.
Harrell chose to partner with Akinmusire by reason of his musical inventiveness, evidenced by having won in 2007 the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Award, a competition judged by a who’s who of trumpet luminaries. Akinmusire’s most recent album, “Origami Harvest” made it onto NPR’s list of “50 Best Albums of 2018.”
For the MBAW concert, Tom Harrell is bringing his current “Moving Picture” ensemble players — Danny Grissett on keys and Ugonna Okegwo on bass. They are joined by another of Harrell’s long-term collaborators, Johnathan Blake, the drummer who kept time for his larger ensemble “Colors of a Dream” in 2015.
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JazzTimes said of Tom Harrell’s 2016 dual trumpet album “Something Gold, Something Blue” “[Ambrose] Akinmusire is an inspired choice. … the depth of his chops enriches the horn vamps and voicings that are integral to Harrell’s work.” Musical Bridges Around the World is bringing Harrell’s dual-trumpet group to San Antonio’s Empire Theater on March 23, 2019, for a free concert that will sound as inspired as this, “Keep On Going” https://youtu.be/lovwSLxGx_8
JJA Trumpeter of the Year 2018, Tom Harrell, will be doubling down on brass with his working band when he features Ambrose Akinmusire at San Antonio’s Empire Theater on March 23, for free thanks to Musical Bridges Around the World. JazzTimes said of Harrell’s 2016 album, “… with a kindred trumpeter and a slightly revamped rhythm section, Something Gold, Something Blue delightfully bookmarks this latest chapter in the 70-year-old leader’s remarkable career.” Something like this, “Circuit” https://youtu.be/KEYplodDp04
Do the math: 1 trumpet [Tom Harrell, JJA Trumpeter of the Year 2018] + 1 trumpet [Ambrose Akinmusire, Best Jazz Album of Year 2018 LATimes; 2nd Best NYT] = whole lot of brass concert-not-to-be-missed at San Antonio’s Empire Theater on March 23, for free thanks to Musical Bridges Around the World. Adds up to a “Sound Image” like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGnXgr2BVCg&feature=youtu.be