# New music from a trio of trailblazers-one veteran, two newcomers: Soundclouds

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2017/09/16/new-music-trio-trailblazers-one-veteran-two-newcomers/
- Published: 2017-09-16T19:16:11+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**New music from a trio of trailblazers—one veteran, two newcomers—will excite the
eardrums of jazz fans during months ahead. **

Here’s what to look forward to from guitarist John McLaughlin, hip-hop producer 
Donnie Trumpet and vocalist Sarah Elizabeth Charles.

**John McLaughlin, “Miles Beyond” from _Live @ Ronnie Scott’s_**

John McLaughlin has a long association with the London jazz club Ronnie Scott’s,
extending as far back as the 1960s, when he served as a member of the club’s house
band. Since then, the guitarist’s trailblazing spirit, technical prowess and improvisational
ingenuity have lifted him to international renown, putting him on stage alongside
fellow giants such as Miles Davis and Tony Williams. As a sideman and leader, his
recorded output has been seminal to the evolution of jazz fusion.

Today, Abstract Logix issues McLaughlin’s _Live @ Ronnie Scott’s_, which compiles
audio from a sold-out, two-night stand by McLaughlin’s seismic quartet The 4th Dimension.
Recorded in March 2017, the album finds McLaughlin and his crew—with Ranjit Barot(
drums, konokol), Gary Husband (keyboards, drums) and Etienne M’Bappé (bass)—exploring
everything from early Mahavishnu Orchestra classics to compositions from their most
recent studio LP, _Black Light_.

McLaughlin’s brain-buzzing, ground-rumbling fusion power dominates the track “Miles
Beyond,” which DownBeat is premiering below. After an explosive introduction, the
group settles into a woozy, vertiginous funk, over which McLaughlin’s breakneck 
guitar solo sounds positively scorching.

**Donnie Trumpet & The JuJu Exchange, “Glide” from _Exchange_**

Producer Donnie Trumpet (aka Nico Segal) is best known as the architect behind 2015’
s pop masterpiece _Surf_, by The Social Experiment, a hip-hop collective that brought
together titans of the genre like Chance the Rapper, Big Sean, Kyle, B.o.B and Busta
Rhymes. He’s also a trumpet player with a long jazz pedigree, and his latest project,
_Exchange_, finds him swerving back into a jazzier lane. Recorded with his newly
formed JuJu Exchange ensemble, the album (which drops on vinyl today) melds boom-
bap drum tracks and silky-smooth horn solos with seamless precision, sounding like
a mash-up between the Native Tongues and Freddie Hubbard.

Below is the track “Glide,” which perfectly exemplifies this group’s swaggering 
aesthetic. Says Segal, “The tune has many different layers happening consistently,
but its intricacy [derives from] the simple melody stated on horn, and then modulated
a half step up (even while the supporting chord shifts a half-step down). In addition,
there are some nods to traditional features of jazz standards: the crescendoing 
intro over the synth vamp, the horn-shout chorus after the melody has been stated,
a brief keyboard right-hand solo halfway through and the coda at the end.”

 

**Sarah Elizabeth Charles, “Change To Come” from _Free Of Form_**

Sarah Elizabeth Charles is a vocalist on the rise, riding the momentum of two phenomenal
previous releases: 2012’s _RED_ and 2015’s _Inner Dialogue_. Those projects wedded
Charles’ acute melodic sensibility to her incisive sociopolitical analysis, and 
on her latest release, _Free Of Form_, she strengthens those connections even more.

Due Oct. 6, the album marks the first release on Christian Scott’s Stretch Music
imprint (Scott also co-produced the album and is featured on several tracks). The
project also features Sarah’s veteran band, SCOPE, which includes Jesse Elder (keys),
Burniss Earl Travis II (bass) and John Davis (drums).

The lyrical content on _Free Of Form_ delves deep into the current political climate,
touching on issues as pressing as mass incarceration, police brutality, drug addiction
and war. “Change To Come,” which can be streamed below, was written in 2014 in the
wake of Eric Garner’s death in New York. Featuring Scott on trumpet, the track is
a powerful rumination on the nature of violence and its stifling effects on underprivileged
communities.

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