Artist: Stefon Harris & Blackout Title Of Album: Evolution Year Of Release: 2004 Label: Blue Note Genre: Jazz Quality: FLAC (image) / MP3 Bitrate: Lossless / CBR 320 kBit/s Total Time: 01:07:17 Total Size: 379 MB / 167 MB WebSite: Tracklist: 01. Nothing Personal [05:54] 02. For Him, For Her [06:20] 03. Until [06:21] 04. Red-Bone Netti-Bone [07:47] 05. A Touch of Grace [05:48] 06. Summertime [07:17] 07. Blackout [07:28] 08. The Lost Ones [06:07] 09. King Tut's Strut [06:36] 10. Message To Mankind [05:15] 11. Montara [02:19] Personnel: Stefon Harris - vibraphone, marimba; Casey Benjamin - alto saxophone (1, 2, 3-7, 9); Marc Cary - Fender Rhodes and keyboards (1, 2, 4-9); Darryl Hall - acoustic bass; Terreon Gully - drums; Anne Drummond - flute and alto flute; Xavier Davis - piano and Fender Rhodes (3, 10); Pedro Martinez - percussion, vocals .
Established jazz artists like vibraphonist Stefon Harris hold it on faith that their fans--and maybe some critics, too--will follow them when they gravitate toward the commercial side of the tracks with pop-informed albums. Still, even taking into account the need to reach a broader audience at a time when instrumental jazz has fallen out of favor, Evolution seems like a step backward, not forward. As contemporary jazz--if not Contemporary Jazz--goes, this album is a cut above. Harris has a great ear for melody, a gift for intoxicating, offbeat arrangements, and a knack for sublimating influences ranging from funk to fusion. (He is abetted in the latter style by Marc Cary, who often sounds like Return to Forever-era Chick Corea on electric piano.) But even if some of the performances get under your skin with repeated listening--a cover of Sting's ballad "Until" casts a sneaky spell--too much of the album is bland and predictable. While it's nice to hear Harris return from the rarified heights of his Grand Unification Theory suite and play with a working band again, he's capable of more evolutionary sounds than these. ~ Lloyd Sachs ~ Amazon.com FLAC Turbobit.net Uploaded.net MP3 Turbobit.net Uploaded.net