Will Calhoun - Celebrating Elvin Jones (2016)

Although he is best known as the hard-driving, groove-oriented drummer for the pioneering rock group Living Colour, Will Calhoun has played in a staggering variety of styles and traditions over the course of his eclectic career. Straight-ahead jazz, fusion, traditional African percussion, funk, hip-hop, and of course hard rock - Calhoun has explored them all, and he traces the roots of all of them to one man: legendary drummer Elvin Jones.

On his second album for Motéma Music, Calhoun pays tribute to his earliest and most profound influence with a stellar band of musicians, all of whom were impacted by Jones through their personal growth as a musician or their past working with him directly: bassist Christian McBride, saxophonist Antoine Roney, pianist/keyboardist Carlos McKinney, and trumpeter Keyon Harrold.

The great keyboardist Jan Hammer, a member of Jones' trio for 'On the Mountain' (1975), joins the band for a reprise of that album's Gene Perla-penned track 'Destiny', and Senegalese percussionist Doudou N'Diaye Rose joins with a group of drummers for the traditional Japanese folk song 'Doll of the Bride'.

Tracklist:

01. EJ Blues
02. Whew
03. Harmonique
04. Sarmastah
05. Mahjong
06. Shinjitsu
07. Doll of the Bride (feat. Doudou N’daiye Rose)
08. Destiny (feat. Jan Hammer)

Personnel:

Will Calhoun: drums, 12-string acoustic guitar (4);
Christian McBride: bass;
Antoine Roney: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone;
Carlos McKinney: piano;
Keyon Harrold: trumpet;
Jan Hammer: keyboards (8);
Doudou N'Diaye Rose and five others: drums (7).