MICK MCSHANE is roused by a band whose socialism laces every line of every song with commitment and raw passion
Latest editorial
Jazz albums with Chris Searle: October 14, 2024
New releases from Etienne Charles, Jason Anick/Jason Yeager and Elliott Sharp/Sally Gates/Tashi Dorji
New releases from Mountain, Soul Asylum and Michael McDermott
ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
SUE TURNER welcomes a thoughtful, engaging book that lays bare the economic realities of global waste management
JOHN GREEN welcomes an insider account of the achievements and failures of the transition to democracy in Portugal
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
PETER MASON is enthralled by an assembly of objects, ancient and modern, that have lain in the mud of London’s river
Etienne Charles
CREOLE ORCHESTRA
(Culture Shock Music)
★★★★
THERE’S a tremendous Trini-percussive verve to Port of Spain-born trumpeter Etienne Charles’s new album, Creole Orchestra. Recorded in New York City, this 21-piece outfit swing and stomp their way through 13 tracks, from The Mighty Sparrow’s Ten to One is Murder and Joe Henderson’s Shade of Jade to Jimmy Forrest’s Night Train.
Fused elements of calypso, soca, big band swing and enticing vocals like Colorado River Song by Rene Marie make up 76 minutes of marvellously spirited music with fiery soloists like altoist Brian Hogans, trombonist Corey Wilcox and pianist Sullivan Fortner.
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