Brotherhood

Marcus Strickland, Marcus Strickland | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 15, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• ASIN: B00009XEL1
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,703,347 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Brotherhood

2. Values & Imperatives

3. Splendour

4. Amen

5. Predator

6. Epiphany

7. Excerpt

8. Saouse

9. The Unsung Hero

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SOMEBODY PLEASE LISTEN TO THIS, July 15, 2004

By 

B (houston, tx) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brotherhood (Audio CD)

If anyone ever finds this review, you deserve a medal. Recordings on this record label, Fresh Sound New Talent, are next to impossible to find even on Amazon, but the talent on this label really is first rate. Marcus Strickland and his brother EJ (who plays drums on this) come from south carolina or something and they're really good. Robert Glasper, the piano/rhodes player, hails from my hometown and the performing arts school I just graduated from in Houston. The bass player has mysteriously abandoned jazz by now although his soloing vocabulary on bass is remarkable.

Marcus placed 3rd in the Monk competition, bested only by John Ellis and Seamus Blake. He has a very identifiable style, although it is rooted in the current New York tenor style, he makes it his own with a spiritual emotional quality that defies explanation. He also has a way of making complicated changes with simpler harmonic devices, making everything he does sound much easier than it is. His cohorts, notably pianist Robert Glasper, are perfect group members for him; he has really formed a group instead of just finding a couple dudes to play with. Glasper has a very unique sound as well; although he doesn't lend any of his beautiful compositions to this recording, he makes his mark on it with tasteful but energetic rhodes playing and lush comping.

The evolved texture of Strickland's compositions is a welcome development. The tracks are (Amazon doesn't provide them at this point) 1 Brotherhood (an intro of sorts, very climactic though) 2 Values & Imperatives (more in the neo bop tradition, features trumpet guest Jeremy Pelt) 3 Splendour (a very memorable motivic piece with an interesting rhythmic shift and a lot of emotional possibility) 4 Amen (a meditative but forceful song) 5 Predator (a fast and tricky piece with Jeremy Pelt) 6 Epiphany (a slower piece that jams in an unusual sort of way) 7 Excerpt (a faster piece with trading and a cool vamp) 8 Saouse (one of the prettiest songs on the album) 9 The Unsung Hero (the best and most understated song written by a drummer of the 21st century).

Several, if not all of the pieces, display some of the harmonic conventions found in the better and less trendy forms of neo soul music as well as modern gospel and soul music in general. It is spiritual and soulful in a more classy and erudite fashion than one would expect, especially if hearing the word "soulful" makes you think of Kirk Whalum. The group has chemisry, the soloists are creative artists as well as well educated and trained musicians, and this is a very mature and distinguished effort instead of a showoff piece. This camp of musicians should get more attention and a better distributer, because this development in jazz is just as important as Greg Osby's thing and Rosenwinkel's thing and even Wynton's think, if you can call it his thing at all.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the same amazing quartet as on "At Last", November 25, 2009

By 

Ben Nevis - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Brotherhood (Audio CD)

As someone who listens mostly to the great, classic artists of jazz, like Clifford Brown, Bud Powell, Charlie Parker, and John Coltrane, it's rare when a contemporary jazz musician (other than Sonny Rollins) knocks me flat. Marcus Strickland is that rare exception. It is difficult to believe that this CD is just his second as leader--the quartet (which becomes a quintet on two of the tracks, with Jeremy Pelt on trumpet on "Values & Imperatives" and "Predator") is just so brilliantly together, so effortlessly tight, the playing so powerful, so moving, so beautiful, it reminds me of a contemporary version of the Classic Quartet, with Robert Glasper on piano and Marcus Strickland on sax almost as amazing in their inventiveness, their interplay and their solos as Tyner and Trane.

The album that precedes this one--"At Last," Strickland's first as leader--is just as amazing (if not more so), and features the same quartet, with Brandon Owens on bass and E.J. Strickland, Marcus's twin brother, on drums. Strickland's most recent CD, as of this writing, is "Idiosyncrasies," it's all trio work, and it's one of his best. This artist is so young, and his career so new, that it may be difficult to say right now which CDs are the most significant in his body of work, but at this point I'd have to say that "At Last," "Brotherhood," and "Idiosyncrasies" are all essential Strickland.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Passionate, articulate and powerful, July 11, 2005

By 

Tim Withee "Tim Withee" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Brotherhood (Audio CD)

I had to see Roy Haynes the last time he was in Seattle. Mr. Haynes and his band were superb and I was knocked out by these tremendous young musicians he had for sidemen -- most notably, Marcus Stickland on saxes.

Not only did I purchase the latest Roy Haynes effort, I searched out sides by Marcus Strickland as well. The first one I purchased was "Brotherhood."

The other reviewer did a fine job describing the tunes, so I'll be brief on that score. My favorite is "Values & Imperatives," which does have a neo hard bop sound. It almost reminds me of Bobby Watson. That cut aside, this album is a very strong, serious work by Strickland and his cohorts. Strickland's lines and arpeggios are pure, complex, melodic, soulful and flow beautifully. His bandmates support him with power, style and ability and there isn't a real weakness on this CD that I could hear. I agree with the other reviewer that Robert Glasper makes a major contribution on keyboards. Brandon Owens on bass and E.J. Strickland on drums make up the rhythm section and also shine brightly.

There's nothing that's too "hip" or pretentious about this CD -- it's just great work that you know comes from the heart. Strickland and people like him are the new young lions of jazz and it's great to know the torch has been taken up by such fine artists.

Indeed, it's fortunate that the great Roy Haynes is yet with us -- and one reason among many, is that he is providing a showcase for these great young players.

My bottom line is this CD is a terrific effort by Marcus Strickland and his band and well worth adding to your collection if you're into this kind of music.

5 stars.