| Jazz |
The aesthetic beauty of this quintet is beyond dispute, and if you are not yet acquainted with this outstanding double bassist, you will be convinced from the very first notes of The Storm Will Pass. The elegance of Louis Heriveaux on piano, trumpeter Melvin Jones, saxophonist Mark Sterbank, and drummer Quentin E. Baxter resonates through every note, every rhythm. And should you still be unfamiliar with Rodney Jordan, allow me to illuminate:
Born and raised in the city known as the “Blues Capital,” Rodney Jordan naturally draws from this rich heritage for Memphis Blue, a deeply personal homage to the “vibrant souls of Memphis,” slated for release on March 14 via Baxter Music Enterprises. Now based in Tallahassee, Florida, Jordan surrounds himself with another Memphis native, trumpeter Melvin Jones, along with a stellar ensemble of musicians who embody the South’s boundless musical wealth: pianist Louis Heriveaux (Atlanta), saxophonist Mark Sterbank (Charleston), and drummer Quentin E. Baxter, also from Charleston.
Memphis Blue unfolds as a tapestry of original compositions by Jordan and Jones, interwoven with standards by Gigi Gryce, Johnny Mercer, and Mulgrew Miller. The album captures, with an undeniable authenticity, the essence and spirit of the blues.
Of course, this recording is unmistakably jazz—a bridge between past and present—but as Jordan himself explains: “This is not a traditional blues album. Yet if you listen closely, every piece bears its imprint. There is an optimism in our playing that perfectly encapsulates the blues spirit.” Indeed, traces of the blues weave through the arrangements, but one is reminded more of the refined artistry of Keb’ Mo’ than of any strict adherence to convention. Every track is a delight, some imbued with a nostalgic poetry that calls to mind the words of Marguerite Yourcenar: “I am one of those listeners who very quickly abandon the technical problem of music to plunge into a reverie, expanded and illuminated by the sound.”
If we are to heed Willie Dixon’s celebrated maxim—“The blues is the truth”—then the original compositions of Memphis Blue reveal profound and heartfelt truths: the hope tinged with melancholy in Jones’s The Storm Will Pass, the tenderness and nostalgia of Jordan’s Escapatoria, or the bassist’s poignant tribute in The Art of Blakey. Yet the essence of the blues is also laid bare in their haunting reinterpretation of Autumn Leaves, a stripped-down rendition that summons the raw power of Bessie Smith or Robert Johnson through its radically deconstructed approach.
The past is revered in the album’s closing piece, The Art of Blakey, which I shall not presume to dissect here. This profound respect for jazz history is a testament to the grace of these sublime musicians. As a student at Jackson State University in Mississippi, Jordan honed his classical training as the assistant principal bassist of the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra. Yet his musical horizon was never confined to the classical realm: under the guidance of mentors such as London Branch, Alvin Fielder, and Kidd Jordan (of New Orleans), he mastered the language of bebop while venturing into more experimental territories.
How will this post-bop, so masterfully rendered here, evolve in the years to come? It is a question that lingers with tantalizing promise, for each of these musicians possesses an extraordinary potential, poised to unfold, to transcend, to astonish. We are surely far from having heard the last of them. And as a fitting tribute to this remarkable album, we are honored to grant it a place among our Indispensables.
Thierry De Clemensat
USA correspondent – Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, February 27th 2025
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