Wonderful!
Cellar, 2024
8/10
The piano and organ player Mike LeDonne pairs his Groover Quartet with a gospel choir for these 8 tracks that serve as a tribute to Ledone’s wife and daughter.
The lively “Let Us Go” starts the listen with Vincent Herring’s soulful sax that suits the uplifting and harmonic choir, and “Lonnie’s Lament” follows with LeDonne’s strategic keys amid Eric Alexander’s booming tenor sax for the atmospheric landscape.
The halfway point belongs to “Put It Back”, where Joe Farnsworth’s frisky drums and Peter Bernstein’s fluid guitar flow alongside the repetitive singing, while “Bridge Over Troubled Water” bops and shakes with an infectious energy thanks to LeDonne’s soulful keys and the soaring voices.
Residing near the end, the calmer approach to “Make Someone Happy” comes with a hazy groove of beauty, and “Genesis”, the lone LeDonne original, exits with a rich and dynamic presence that uses animated sax and swift drums to its advantage.
An adventurous undertaking that meshes jazz and gospel with exciting results, LeDonne and company re-image some classics in highly creative ways.
Travels well with: Gerald Cannon- Live At Dizzy’s Club: The Music Of Elvin & McCoy; Marshall Gilkes- Life Songs