E.J. Strickland Quintet - Warriors for Peace (2018)

Thin ... still an "indispensable"! Yes, if you are passionate about jazz and you like drummers / composers who write music with their heart, you are at the right place. If E.J. Strickland has collaborated with such prominent jazz stars as Herbie Hancock, Cassandra Wilson, among others, or even Terence Blanchard, Wynton Marsalis and Ravi Coltrane, it's no coincidence. All appreciate the intelligence and grace of this musician's game. Moreover on this opus with the revealing title, "Warriors for Peace", the tone is given from the first title "Uvumilivu". The "warriors of peace" (translation of the title of this CD) send "the sauce" to scramble the tracks. In the background, there is a remarkable musicality, carried by Godwin Louis on the alto sax and Jure Pukl on the tenor and soprano saxophones, which could graze the wings of an angel on his cradle.

Listening to this great album you will find that E.J. Strickland is not just an extremely talented drummer. His musical writing is visionary while retaining this typical know-how of New York clubs. In fact, the listener has no trouble accompanying in their musical quest these Warriors Of Peace that are the excellent artists that I must quote you: EJ Strickland (drums and songs), Goldwin Louis (alto saxophone), Jure Pukl (alto and soprano saxophones), Taber Gable (piano), Josh Ginsburg (double bass), not forgetting the collaboration of Uldrich Edorh (vocals), also remarkable, and present on the last track of the CD.

If the musical writing can seem (to certain listeners who discover the Jazz) complex and sophisticated, so far this album is perfectly accessible to all public because one is very easily bewitched by these musicians whose talent is not to prove any more, especially as this album, recorded during a tour in Marseille in April 2018, is also rich in this heat of the south and this particular energy.