SFGMN Radio :: Tribute CDs: Celebrating Creative Talents

Tribute CDs:
Celebrating Creative Talents

The camaraderie, respect and support musicians afford one another is truly admirable. Artists who create tribute albums that reflect and pay homage are excellent way of celebrating and commemorating the lives and creative talents and legacies of musicians.

This year there are some wonderful tribute albums that have been released. Here is a few fine, memorable tribute releases.

Click on artist name and title to find out more about an album.

Ray Charles

David Newman: I Remember Brother Ray

You'll recognize every tune as a Ray Charles hit, but you'll find that Newman has chosen the most melodic and balladic of Ray's songs. Even those that were originally up-tempo R&B have been turned down to sunset mellow. For after all, this is a eulogy to the master blues wailer who first introduced the young sax player with the album 'Fathead: Ray Charles Presents David Newman'('58).

John Scofield: That's What I Say: John Scofield Plays the Music of Ray Charles

John Scofield's 2005 tribute release is also one of the most varied yet successful albums in the guitarist's extensive catalog. Shifting from a big band/multi-vocalist approach for the classic "What'd I Say" featuring an all-star lineup of Dr. John, Warren Haynes, Aaron Neville, John Mayer and Mavis Staples trading verses (they all also take solo vocals on other tracks), along with longtime Charles saxist David "Fathead" Newman, to the lone guitar rendition of "Georgia on my Mind" that closes the disc, Scofield celebrates both Charles' music and his eclectic approach to it.

John Coltrane

Wynton Marsalis, Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra A Love Supreme

In 1964 John Coltrane recorded A Love Supreme with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones. It's one of most influential and imposing jazz suites ever written, and on this debut CD for the Palmetto label, The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, featuring Wynton Marsalis, adapts Coltrane's immortal composition to the big band. Wynton and company skillfully extend and elaborate on the Coltrane's work, and preserve the soul-searching spirit of the four-part suite, which deals with the blues, 4/4 swing, Afro-Latin rhythms, and ballads.

Rahsaan Roland Kirk

Steve Turre: The Spirits Up Above

Trombonist Steve Turre is a kindred spirit of Rahsaan. He is inventive--as was Rahsaan-- in finding and creating music from such unique items as shells. He is also a fine creative talent. On Spirits Up Above Steve creates some sterling compositions, including "One for Kirk," and he also renders a fine rendition of Rahsaan's creations "Bright Moments" and "Volunteered Slavery." This album is a fine tribute to Rahsaan, a singularly rare artist, by Steve Turre, a superbly talented artist.

Jimmy Smith

Joey DeFrancesco: Legacy: Jimmy Smith

This album is among the last recordings made before Jimmy Smith died early in 2005. The 79 year old master of the Hammond B-3 organ was brought in by DeFrancesco, more than forty years his junior and responsible for continuing and expanding upon the instrument's place in the jazz tradition. The pair had recorded a live set previously (Incredible!, released in 2000), but with this set DeFrancesco wanted to create a studio album that would celebrate Smith's strengths within a sympathetic setting. The younger organist plays piano on a number of the tracks, but more than half of the disc is devoted to dual Hammond performances. It's a mark of their skills, and the warmth and clarity of the recording, that each of their organs is identifiable throughout. --David Greenberger