Walk A Mile In My Shoe (Imani Records)
Orrin Evans & The Captain Black Big Band
Released August 16, 2024
Grammy Nominee for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album 2025
All About Jazz Best Jazz Albums of 2024
DownBeat Four-and-a-Half-Star Review
2025 Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards Best Album of the Year Nominee
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mzMzef0pn7nnaREeNPK3WXeV4ITzHD2S4
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About:
Guided by Evans’ embracing, instigative leadership, the Captain Black Big Band boasts a bold, vigorous sound; a raucous, unpredictable vibe; and a communal spirit convening a membership that ranges from revered elders to rising stars. Nowhere is that more evident than in the ensemble’s communal fifth release, Walk a Mile in My Shoe, which features appearances by Nicholas Payton and Jesse Fischer and vocal turns by longtime collaborators Bilal, Joanna Pascale and Paul Jost, along with special guest Lisa Fischer.
Tracking List:
1. Dislocation Blues 07:25
2. Sunday In New York 04:18
3. All That I Am 04:49
4. Blues In The Night 05:09
5. Hymn 04:35
6. Save The Children 04:50
7. Overjoyed 06:21
8. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes 03:18
9. If 05:41
Personnel:
Orrin Evans: piano
Sean Jones: trumpet
Josh Lawrence: trumpet
Todd Bashore: alto saxophone, flute
Caleb Wheeler Curtis: tenor and soprano saxophone
David Gibson: trombone
Reggie Watkins: trombone
Jesse Fischer: organ (1)
Anthony Tidd: electric bass (1)
Madison Rast: bass (2, 5, 9)
Vicente Archer: bass (3, 4, 6, 7)
Nicholas Payton: trumpet (3, 7)
Anwar Marshall: drums (2, 5, 6, 9)
Mark Whitfield Jr.: drums (3, 4, 7)
Very Special Guest:
Lisa Fischer: vocals (4, 7)
Special Guests:
Joanna Pascal: vocals (2)
Bilal: vocals (3, 6)
Paul Jost (1, 8)
Recorded March 9, 2024, by Katsuhiko Naito
Mixed by Todd Whitlock
Mastered by Mark Wilder
Producer: Orrin Evans
Review:
As big bands go, Captain Black isn’t exactly enormous: six horns (two each of trumpet, sax, and trombone) plus rhythm. But they make the most of what they’ve got, evoking an Ellingtonian palette behind Evans’ skittering piano on “Hymn” and rendering “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” with the grace of a classical wind ensemble. Add in a pair of standout solos by guest trumpeter Nicholas Payton and there’s plenty to delight horn fans.
Even so, most of the songs are centered around singers, not instrumentalists. Although this adds pop appeal to the proceedings, it doesn’t diminish the jazz content; instead, it connects the music to the tradition of big band singers without forcing the sound into retro mode. Sure, Lisa Fischer’s masterful delivery of “Blues In The Night” may trigger memories of Sarah Vaughan, but Mark Whitfield Jr.’s drumming puts the performance squarely in this century. Then there’s Bilal’s “All That I Am,” which underscores how much common ground there is between current jazz and contemporary R&B, boasting a vocal that feels just as improvised as Payton’s trumpet solo. If, as some have suggested, the future of jazz will have less to do with extended improvisation than with communal groove and songs, Walk A Mile In My Shoe goes a long way toward illustrating how that can happen while keeping connected to the music’s history.
J.D. Considine (DownBeat)
