Modern Jazz Gems

Bassist Charles Fambrough and altoist Donald Harrison were both members of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers during part of the 1980s. With Blakey, they grew as improvisers and as individual voices. They actually had little choice since the drummer forced them to swing hard, pushing them as he had such earlier sidemen as Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter and Benny Golson, among many others.

Fambrough and Harrison are both featured at the heads of separate two-CD sets put out by the European Membran label. In addition to his association with the Jazz Messengers, Charles Fambrough had important stints with McCoy Tyner, Grover Washington Jr. and Airto before leading his own groups. His first two CDs as a leader, The Charmer and The Proper Angle, comprise his Membran twofer. In both cases, he assembled very impressive all-star groups, including such notables as Grover Washington Jr., altoist Kenny Garrett, trumpeters Roy Hargrove and Wynton Marsalis, saxophonists Branford Marsalis and Joe Ford and pianists Kenny Kirkland and Abdullah Ibrahim. The music ranges from fresh hard bop originals to spiritual ballads, featuring some of the best musicians of 1990s jazz along with Fambrough's supportive and driving bass playing.

Donald Harrison shared the frontline of the Jazz Messengers with trumpeter Terence Blanchard, and they co-led a group before Harrison went out on his own. His alto sound was always distinctive and he has been heard in many settings since that era. His twofer has music originally on The Power of Cool and Blues at...more details