Sometimes you know it immediately. It took me less than 20 seconds to realize that For Mahalia, With Love by James Brandon Lewis and his Red Lily Quintet was going to be a deeply moving and spiritual set of modern music. And so it is. In what proves to be a perfect pairing of material and musicians, tenor saxophonist Lewis, inspired by childhood memories of his grandmother talking about Mahalia Jackson, wrote arrangements for a batch of songs associated with the great gospel singer. The performances by the Red Lily Quintet fuse the time-honored melodies with the fervor of the modern tenor saxophone tradition, as exemplified by innovators like Albert Ayler and David Murray. Joining Lewis in the front line is the imaginative cornetist Kirk Knuffke. Drummer Chad Taylor and bassist William Parker are a superbly responsive rhythm team. The quintet is rounded out by Chris Hoffman on cello, an instrument that seems to insist on multiple roles in an improvising context, from bass-like pizzicato to horn-styled arco work and more. That calls for great versatility and command, and Hoffman, a regular in various Henry Threadgill ensembles since 2011, has all that and more. His solo, leading into a duet passage with Parker on Deep River is just one of the program’s many high points. The spirit of the quintet is powerful from start to finish, and the quintet’s devoted recastings are thrilling. For Mahalia, With Love is a wonderful CD, totally recommended. And that’s before I mention a companion CD with the first edition of Lewis performing an original suite, These Are Soulful Days (51:53), recorded live in Poland (Wrocław, November 21, 2021) with the Lutosławski String Quartet. The format is not really my cup of tea, but it is a chance to hear another side of the adventuresome Lewis.
TAO Forms TAO 13 (CD [first edition with bonus disc]; 2-lp set; & digital album; Kirk Knuffke (cnt) James Brandon Lewis (ts) Chris Hoffman (clo) William Parker (b) Chad Taylor (d, tambourine); South Orange, NJ, no dates specified; Sparrow/ Swing Low/ Go Down Moses/ Wade in the Water/ Calvary/ Deep River/ Elijah Rock/ Were You There/ Precious Lord; 71:35. aumfidelity.com/collections/tao-forms
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