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Robert Hurst: Bob a Palindrome

By Hrayr Attarian
April 18, 2013
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Bassist and composer Robert Hurst's sixth release as a leader Bob a Palindrome crackles with excitement and brims with innovative ideas. Leading a superlative ensemble made up of long time collaborators, Hurst presents eight of his compositions that range from the impressionistic to the intimately poetic.

The pi��ce de r��sistance is the dramatic three part "Middle Passage Suite" that unfolds with an Ellingtonian (pianist, bandleader composer

Duke Ellington

piano
1899 - 1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Duke Ellington) flair. The first section opens with percussionist

Adam Rudolph

percussion
b.1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Adam Rudolph setting an ominous ambience with his rumbling beats and rattling shakers. Rudolph together with Hurst's bowed bass drone and drummer

Jeff Tain Watts

drums
b.1960

" data-original-title="" title="">Jeff Tain Watts' crashing cymbals conjures images of a dark stormy sea. Hurst and Rudolph provide the framework for the second act with their somber and hypnotic continuously evolving vamp with North African sensibilities. Hurst's pensive and edgy pizzicato bass raises the curtain on the third. The movement features a passionate adlib dialogue between saxophonist

Branford Marsalis

saxophone
b.1960

" data-original-title="" title="">Branford Marsalis' blistering and articulate soprano and reedman

Bennie Maupin

woodwinds
b.1940

" data-original-title="" title="">Bennie Maupin's gritty and intelligent tenor. The soulful piece closes with a delightful cacophony that is at once melancholic, lively and tinged with exuberance and rage.

In contrast, the deceptively simple melodies that form the foundations of both "Big Queen" and "Little Queen" are warm and lyrical with a Latin lilt to them. Trumpeter

Marcus Belgrave

trumpet
1936 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Marcus Belgrave's cool, clean and full-bodied flugelhorn blows over the bubbling hot rhythms and reeds on the former. Pianist

Robert Glasper

piano
b.1978

" data-original-title="" title="">Robert Glasper's Cubanesque improvisation cascades over the dark, horn driven vamps that conclude the tune. On the latter Glasper switches to Fender- Rhodes, as his shimmering resonant keys sound vaguely like vibraphone bars as he thrills with an intelligent, sing song extemporization. Marsalis' warm, serpentine soprano develops into an idyllic and imaginative ode.

In addition to being an intriguing composer and a consummate bandleader, Hurst excels at spontaneous creativity. His mellow, deep con arco bass on the fantastical "3 for Lawrence" is fluid in its virtuosity and complex in structure. The track also showcases Maupin's muscular and agile alto flute that undulates with an almost a Levantine touch.

Full of stimulating and clever musical twists, ardent and eloquent soloists and a thematic coherence, this superb album is destined to be a classic.

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Track Listing

3 for Lawrence; Picked from Nick; Big Queen; Tigers On Venus; Middle Passage Suite Part I- For Those of Us Who Made It; Middle Passage Suite Part II- For Those of Us That Didn't Make It ; Middle Passage Suite: Part III - For Those of Us Still Here; Little Queen; Indiscreet in Da Street; Jamming - A.K.A. Ichabad.

Personnel

Robert Hurst: bass; Branford Marsalis: soprano and tenor saxophones, Robert Glasper: piano and keyboards; Marcus Belgrave: trumpet and flugelhorn; Bennie Maupin: alto flute, bass clarinet, soprano and tenor saxophones; Jeff "Tain" Watts: drums; Adam Rudolph: percussion.

Album information

Title: Bob a Palindrome | Year Released: 2013 | Record Label: Bebob Records

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