Song:The Walls of Lechuguilla
Album:When The Heart Emerges Glistening
With his 2011 Blue Note debut, trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire has a emerged as a worthy successor of the legacy of jazz greats. It's early in his career so it will be interesting to follow his development. He was born May 1, 1982 in Oakland, CA. He played trumpet in the jazz band at Berkeley High School. When sax player Steve Coleman gave a workshop at the school, he took Akinmusire on a European tour and Akinmusire played on Coleman's 2001 CD Resistance Is Futile. He studied at the Manhattan School of Music and then moved to Los Angeles and attended the Thelonious Monk Institute at the University of Southern California. He played on albums by Aaron Parks and Vijay Iyer. He released his debut CD Prelude...to Cora on the Spanish label Fresh Sounds in 2007. After winning the 2007 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, Akinmusire moved back to New York. While performing with pianist Jason Moran, he was spotted by Blue Note Records president Bruce Lundvall. Akinmusire signed with Blue Note and Moran agreed to produce his CD. His 2011 CD When The Heart Emerges Glistening reached #6 on the Jazz Album Chart. Moran plays piano on two songs and Gerald Clayton plays piano on the rest of the album. Drummer Justin Brown normally plays with Clayton. Tenor sax player Walter Smith III has played with Christian Scott and Terence Blanchard. Akinmusire played on Smith's 2006 CD Casually Introducing. and Smith's 2010 CD III. These two guys work very well together. Harish Raghavan is on bass. Akinmusire has also played with Esperanza Spalding among others. Akinmusire got a lot of buzz with this CD and I like what I hear. Check him out for yourself. Here's Ambrose Akinmusire performing The Walls of Lechuguilla at Jazz Standard in New York City 2009. Except for the pianist, it's the same band that is on the CD.
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