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Benny Powell<br />
Nextep<br />
ORIGIN 82517<br />
AAA 1 /2<br />
This album is ripe with personality. Every cut<br />
evokes the aura of its leader, veteran trombonist<br />
Benny Powell. And each cut is different from<br />
the one that came before it. With a flexible crew<br />
that can navigate some second-line, swing,<br />
blues, samba and all things (light) Latin jazz,<br />
Nextep doesn’t hit you over the head with amazing<br />
displays of virtuosity. Instead, the underlying<br />
group presence and unpretentious nature of the<br />
program stays with the listener after repeated<br />
plays.<br />
There are nice interludes where we get some<br />
peeks into chops, as when bassist Essiet Essiet<br />
plucks away on the serene Latin-esque ballad “A<br />
Single Tear Of Remembrance.” Along with<br />
Essiet, Powell brings along old friend Billy Hart<br />
on drums, who plays a typically understated but<br />
solid role. Also helping navigate the various<br />
styles are Powell mainstays pianist Sayuri Goto<br />
and saxophonist TK Blue.<br />
Of the 10 cuts here, Powell contributes one,<br />
the lilting, soft-spoken “You Got It,” a song simple<br />
in design, and affecting with little touches<br />
like when Blue (on tenor) shadows Powell on<br />
the theme statement. The other nine are also<br />
originals, eight of which are written by Blue or<br />
Goto. Just when one might think this is a quiet<br />
program, the band throws in some danceable,<br />
bouncy township-inspired material, such as the<br />
folksy “The Caribbean Express.”<br />
The simple, direct nature of this recording at<br />
first strikes one as an uninspired, uneventful<br />
outing. Indeed, there is little going on here that<br />
hasn’t been heard before. However, with this<br />
combination of players and repertoire, we get<br />
something worth listening to. Maybe the personality<br />
is the band, and not just Powell.<br />
—John Ephland<br />
Nextep: Free To Be Me; The Township Diary; Best People; Akiha;<br />
Another Blue; Night, Never End; I Tried And Tried; A Single Tear Of<br />
Remembrance; You Got It; The Caribbean Express. (57:57)<br />
Personnel: Benny Powell, trombone; TK Blue, alto and soprano<br />
saxophone, flute; Sayuri Goto, piano, Essiet Essiet, bass; Billy<br />
Hart, drums.<br />
»<br />
Ordering info: origin-records.com<br />
April 2009 DOWNBEAT 79
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