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Dwayne Clemons: Center of Gravity: Live at Smalls

By Jack Bowers
February 25, 2025
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Dwayne Clemons: Center of Gravity: Live at Smalls

On Center of Gravity, veteran trumpeter

Dwayne Clemons

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Dwayne Clemons displays his astuteness and savvy in a generally impressive session recorded in September 2023 at Smalls Jazz Club in New York City, leading a sextet in which he shares the front line with alto saxophonist

Amanda Sedgwick

saxophone, alto

" data-original-title="" title="">Amanda Sedgwick and tenor

Aaron Johnson

saxophone, alto
b.1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Aaron Johnson.

This is a colorful and broad-shouldered date wherein everyone more than pulls his (or her) weight, with the horns adeptly supported from end to end by pianist

Jinjoo Yoo

piano
b.1989

" data-original-title="" title="">Jinjoo Yoo, bassist

Paul Gill

bass, acoustic

" data-original-title="" title="">Paul Gill and drummer

Taro Okamoto

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Taro Okamoto. Clemons, in fact, is so generous when assigning blowing space that it would be hard to guess he was the group's foreman if his name and photo weren't on the cover. In this case, the division of labor proves wise and pragmatic, as Sedgwick, Johnson and Yoo are stellar soloists in their own right whose voices are rarely less than discerning and meaningful.

As for the playlist, it is neatly divided between well-drawn standards and promising originals, with a pair of Sedgwick's orderly charts complementing others by

Barry Harris

piano
1929 - 2021

" data-original-title="" title="">Barry Harris,

J.J. Johnson

trombone
1924 - 2001

" data-original-title="" title="">J.J. Johnson and

Thelonious Monk

piano
1917 - 1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Thelonious Monk. Sedgwick wrote the concert's melodious title song and bop-linked "Shadow and Act," Harris the rhythmic curtain-raiser, "Burgundy," Monk the quirky "Hornin' In," Johnson the rapid-fire "Hey George" (a.k.a. "Sweet Georgia Brown").

Fats Waller

piano
1904 - 1943

" data-original-title="" title="">Fats Waller's "Honeysuckle Rose" and Johnny Green's "I Cover the Waterfront" are included with the evergreens "Sweet Emmalina, My Gal," "Smoke Rings" (on which an unlisted clarinet, that of either Sedgwick or Johnson, is especially welcome) and the warhorse "When I Grow Too Old to Dream" (taken as a pleasant foxtrot complete with group vocal).

If there is a downside, it is that the final seventeen-plus minutes of the seventy-three minute enterprise are, relatively speaking, more reserved than robust. Aside from that, there is not much to censure as Clemons and his teammates deftly take care of business. An aside: as there is no audience response or applause following any number, it must be presumed that "Live at Smalls" means exactly that.

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Track Listing

Burgundy; Center of Gravity; Hey George; Honeysuckle Rose; Hornin' In; I Cover The Waterfront; Shadow and Act; Smoke Rings; Sweet Emmalina, My Gal; When I Grow Too Old to Dream.

Personnel

Dwayne Clemons

trumpet

Aaron Johnson

saxophone, alto

Amanda Sedgwick

saxophone, alto

Jinjoo Yoo

piano

Paul Gill

bass, acoustic

Taro Okamoto

drums

Album information

Title: Center of Gravity: Live at Smalls | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: Cellar Music Group

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