Jafar Barron

The Free-Bop Movement

Alafia Records, 92948-2

Jafar Barron, trumpet; Lamont Caldwell, tenor saxophone; Oskar Castro, vocals and spoken word; Tim Mozter, guitar; Farid Barron, Rhodes electric piano; Michael Boone, acoustic bass; Rodney Green, drums.

Trumpeter/composer Jafar Barron and his colleagues are among the next generation of improvising musicians who have mastered the concept of pulse and its harmonic implications. In this fine session, comprised of 16 challenging, original pieces, the groove can be viewed as a powerful force from which all ideas emanate. The title track serves as a good example of the new aesthetic-- where chord sequences, intervallic ideas, and spoken word beautifully coexist in relation to an underlying pulse. Groups such as this are a rebuttal to those who believe that Jazz has become regressive. If anything, the new Jazz musician is contributing to the evolution of a highly complex and original art form. Over forty years after the emergence of George Russell's theoretical masterwork, The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization, we have living proof of the relationship between seemingly disparate musical forces. Highly recommended.

by James D. Armstrong, Jr.