02/03 8:00 PM & 10:00 PM - $30.00

The Cookers

Billy Harper – Tenor Sax
Eddie Henderson – Trumpet
David Weiss – Trumpet
Craig Handy – Alto Sax
George Cables – Piano
Cecil McBee – Bass
Billy Hart – Drums

Trumpeter David Weiss, whose work occupies a curious space between reflecting on repertory and pushing forward with devil-may-care aplomb, is a founding member of the New Jazz Composers Octet and former collaborator with Freddie Hubbard and Horace Silver among others. Weiss’ recent projects include the septet The Cookers, a paean to Hubbard’s 1964 Night of the Cookers discs on Blue Note, which was initially a vehicle to explore the late trumpeter’s music and that of musicians associated with his circle.

Warriors brings Weiss together with trumpeter Eddie Henderson, saxophonists Billy Harper and Craig Handy, pianist George Cables, bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Billy Hart on a program of seven member originals and Hubbard’s “The Core”. The latter, an explosive number from the Jazz Messengers’ Free for All (Blue Note, 1964), starts the disc, reminding one that Blakey’s unit wasn’t just hardbop, but a vehicle for young composers with a hell of a lot of fire. Henderson is the first soloist and, while a player mostly associated with fusion, brings a deftly applied weight to the music and lays the groundwork for a hard-charging Harper and Weiss’ toothy straightarrow improvisation. Cables’ “Spookarella” features Weiss’ lush arrangements and a surprising orchestral lilt that encircles Handy’s metallic pierce and flutter and the pianist’s spiky filigree. “Priestess” and “Capra Black” represent the catalog of Harper compositions, Cables giving the former a deep, churchy refrain beneath flinty and lush interwoven texture. The latter is Harper’s signature tune, an elastic and knotty theme somewhere out of Duke Pearson-land, predicat- ed by a sanctified bottom and elegantly rolling rhythm.

Cast The First Stone expands The Cookers’ lineup slightly, bringing tenor and soprano fire- brand Azar Lawrence into the picture on four of the disc’s seven tracks – originals by Harper, McBee, Cables and Harold Mabern. The title opener is Harper’s tune and merges cascading fluidity with big blocks of sound. For example, at its most lilting, uptempo moments, there remains a gooey sense of time that McBee and Hart toy around with, making a stew of blurry accent. The piece moves from punchy forward motion to languid chorus and fleet dialogue, with Harper cutting through as the preacher’s voice. Weiss is thin and crackling in his bursts, pushing forth atop an alternately restive and churning chordal-rhythmic background and Cables emerges to spin a call and response between spiritual rejoinder and glassy detail true to the composer’s vision of factional emotion. Restless rhythm pervades even the stately warmth of McBee’s “Peacemaker”, giving a rustling energy behind Henderson’s pensive, muted state- ments. Ambiguity surrounds Handy’s burbling keen before his florid improvisation is set up against blocky movement.

While music like what’s offered by The Cookers has been around in some form or another for decades, the vitality in how these musician-composers engage the material is a reminder that there are few laurels to be rested on.

www.davidweissmusic.com