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Carlos Vega: Art of the Messenger

By Dan McClenaghan
May 30, 2021
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Tenor saxophonist

Carlos Vega

saxophone, tenor

" data-original-title="" title="">Carlos Vega is a steeped-in-the-tradition fan of early bebop, displaying his passion for the genre with his nods to alto saxophonist

Charlie Parker

saxophone, alto
1920 - 1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Charlie Parker on Bird's Ticket (2016) and Bird's Up (2017), both on Origin Records. With Art Of The Messenger he shifts his focus to

" data-original-title="" title="">Art Blakey, the drummer who led the Jazz Messengers from 1955 onward for thirty-five years, helping define—in the early years—the hard bop Blue Note Records approach to jazz.

Vega and his very Messenger-esque/Charlie Parker-ish quintet—the leader's tenor sax and

Victor Garcia

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Victor Garcia's trumpet blowing hard in the front line— display a momentum similar the Art Blakey's, with a bit more flexibility in the soloing. The disc opens with the title tune, a modern day hard bop romp, followed up by the Latin- tinged "Bird's Word," proving that Vega had a hard time escaping the Charlie Parker influence, in the best way possible. The rhythm section—pianist Stu Mindeman, bassist

Joshua Ramos

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Joshua Ramos and drummer

Xavier Breaker

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Xavier Breaker—lays down a foundation of rumbling jubilation, Garcia's trumpet blows red hot; and Vegas's sax is cyclonic.

On a set of all originals from Vega's pen, "Ode To the Patient Observer" slows the torrid pace of the set's first two tunes, easing the sound into a relaxed reverie, while "Across The Ocean" celebrates the pure joy and exuberance of upbeat hard bop, with Vega smoldering hard out of a sharp-edged group interplay, followed by trumpeter Garcia, who spits out a wandering sentence of crisp one word syllables before blowing into a long, fluid lines approach.

Art Of the Messenger celebrates the hard bop sound and Art Blakey's influential Jazz Messengers with a vibrant twenty-first century pizzazz, employing a quintet that competes with the best of the legendary drummer/bandleader's bands.

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Track Listing

Art of the Messenger; Bird's Word; Ode to the Patient Observer; Across the Ocean; Don't Forget to Ask; Something to Say; Oh; The Owl; Who Cooks for You; Heed the Call; Serenata for Bela.

Personnel

Carlos Vega

saxophone, tenor

Victor Garcia

trumpet

Stu Mindeman

piano

Joshua Ramos

bass

Xavier Breaker

drums

Album information

Title: Art of the Messenger | Year Released: 2021 | Record Label: Origin Records

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