1. Mind Wine
2. After The Morning
3. Blues in the Pocket
4. Heart to Heart
5. Yemenja
6. Naima's Love Song
7. Avotcja
8. Single Petal of a Rose
Elise Wood-Hicks - Flute, alto flute
Larry Willis - Piano
Curtis Lundy - Bass (tracks 1-7)
Steve Williams - Drums (tracks 1-7)
Craig Handy - Soprano sax, tenor sax (tracks
1-3, 5-7)
Eddie Henderson - Trumpet (tracks 4-6)
Pianist John Hicks played
for Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in the mid-sixties
and he also played with such people as saxists
Johnny Griffin, Arthur Blythe and Pharaoh
Sanders, and singers Betty Carter and Della
Reese. When John Hicks died in 2006, his widow,
flautist Elise Wood-Hicks, collaborated with
pianist Larry Willis to form a band to keep
John's memory - and his compositions - alive.
Hence this album, which contains seven of
John's compositions plus Duke Ellington's
Single Petal of a Rose.
Despite John Hicks's indisputable
talent as a pianist and the undoubted sincerity
of this tribute band, it may not convince
the listener of John's prowess as a composer,
because few of the tunes are particularly
memorable - at least, not to me. For instance,
Blues in the Pocket has a title which
implies catchy funkiness, but it is actually
an unsettling roller-coaster of a tune, although
Craig Handy's tenor solo injects some bluesy
funk into it. On the other hand, After
the Morning is an attractive waltz, with
Craig Handy contributing another impressive
solo, this time on soprano sax.
Trumpeter Eddie Henderson
joins in for three tracks, at times resembling
a rather strangled Miles Davis, although his
solo on Naima's Love Song is more integrated
and mellow (it sounds as if he's playing a
flugelhorn here, not a trumpet). The final
track, Single Petal of a Rose, is a
flute and piano duet, recalling the similar
performance by Mr and Mrs Hicks on an album
with the same title. It is certainly touching,
but the immediate appeal of the simple melody
contrasts with the mostly less accessible
compositions by John Hicks.
Larry Willis is, as so often,
a supportive pianist - and he was presumably
responsible for all the arrangements, although
the sleeve only credits him as the pianist.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Savant
SCD 2096
