Darrell Grant - The New Black: Darrell Grant Live at Birdland (2022)

In January, 2019, I walked onto stage at the Birdland Theater in New York to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the release of Black Art joined by three of the current generation’s most distinctive voices for two transcendent nights of music-making. The energy in the room was palpable — the music exploded off the bandstand.

And I had no idea that our sets were being recorded!

What you hear on this record is an unfiltered, unedited snapshot of the music we made during those two nights. It captures the vibe of a night in a packed New York jazz club — the musicians free to stretch on extended versions of the songs, the crackling excitement of a live audience in an intimate venue. It all adds up to the FEELING that keeps us returning to where the magic is made.

I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to revisit and re-invent this music, and it is an even more unexpected gift to be able to share it with you. I hope the music brings as much pleasure in the listening as it did in the making.

Darrell Grant