Evolution

Stefon Harris | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 20, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Blue Note
• ASIN: B0001XALXM
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,632 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #46 in Music > R&B > Funk > Jazz Funk

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Established jazz artists like vibraphonist Stefon Harris hold it on faith that their fans--and maybe some critics, too--will follow them when they gravitate toward the commercial side of the tracks with pop-informed albums. Still, even taking into account the need to reach a broader audience at a time when instrumental jazz has fallen out of favor, Evolution seems like a step backward, not forward. As contemporary jazz--if not Contemporary Jazz--goes, this album is a cut above. Harris has a great ear for melody, a gift for intoxicating, offbeat arrangements, and a knack for sublimating influences ranging from funk to fusion. (He is abetted in the latter style by Marc Cary, who often sounds like Return to Forever-era Chick Corea on electric piano.) But even if some of the performances get under your skin with repeated listening--a cover of Sting's ballad "Until" casts a sneaky spell--too much of the album is bland and predictable. While it's nice to hear Harris return from the rarified heights of his Grand Unification Theory suite and play with a working band again, he's capable of more evolutionary sounds than these. --Lloyd Sachs

Product Description

Evolution by Stefon Harris & Blackout

This product is manufactured on demand using CD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great sounding modern jazz disc . . ., April 21, 2004

By 

Jan P. Dennis "Longboard jazzer" (Monument, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Evolution (Audio CD)

. . . joining recent releases by Dave Douglas, Nicholas Payton, Josh Roseman, and others.

I especially like the way Harris has conceived and presented the sonorities of Fender Rhodes (and various other keyboards) with vibes/marimba. Darryl Hall's acoustic bass and Terreon Gully's drums provide wonderful sonic support and coloration, and Casey Benjamin's alto seamlessly blends into the soundscape along with dreamy flute and very cool percussive effects on about half the cuts. The resulting tonal palette is very pleasing, although to the casual listener it will sound suspiciously like smooth jazz. But don't be fooled. Harris's roots are too firmly in the jazz tradition for him to opt out for smooth jazz, and the compositions and playing, despite their apparent similarity to jazz lite, are far too rigorous and genuinely conversational to be regarded as anything but authentic jazz, although of a very distinctly postmodern type.

As with Dave Douglas's recent disc, Strange Liberation, Harris has forsaken the larger ensemble approach he took with Grand Unification Theory and recorded this disc with his working band. Like Strange Liberation, the results are pretty spectacular. One of the reasons, I think, is that Harris, like Douglas, concentrates more on ensemble playing and group sound than on fiery solos, although there are plenty of the latter especially from the leader and the remarkable Marc Cary, certainly one of the most versatile of modern jazz keys players.

I don't think there's any question but that Stefon Harris is the most interesting vibes player to emerge since Bobby Hutcherson came on the scene in the early sixties (and remains, perhaps, this instrument's leading voice). Interestingly, Harris records a Hutcherson tune, "Montara," from latter's mid-seventies electro-Latin disc of the same title, perhaps acknowledging his present approach as a direct descendant of that disc.

In any case, right now this is my candidate for jazz record of 2004. Check it out.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intricate and Compelling!, September 11, 2005

By 

Diana E. Beach-Torp (Moraga, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Evolution (Audio CD)

Because of the lack of good music on current radio stations, I have had a hard time finding new and interesting jazz musicians. I came across Stefon Harris's name in Downbeat magazine. I am awed by this CD. The music is lush and compelling, the beats intricate and riffs are many! The melodies and tonal changes are intriguing. This is a vastly talented group of musicians and a lot of thought and heart went into the making of this CD. Check it out!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Mind blowing!!!!!!!!!!!!, February 6, 2006

By 

Monte Hunter "monte hunter" (columbia Md) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Evolution (Audio CD)

I was first introduced to Mr. harris freshman cd A Cloud of red dust.I knew after hearing that, that this cat was on the rise of young new artist to contend with. and after hearing Evolution, again this young man has already exceeded my expectations of his talent. I look forward to his next project.anyone reading this review buy this cd, you will be glad you did.