Among those who are celebrating their birthdays today is jazz saxophonist Vincent Herring, who was born on this day, November 19th in 1964. The year of the great Phillies collapse and the year I went to both a World Series game and the baseball All-Star game in New York. It was a great year for a 13 year-old! Anyway, back to Vincent Herring, even though he has released albums as a leader since 1989’s American Experience, I just discovered his music back in January, when I listened to his 2013 release The Uptown Shuffle, to say the least I was very impressed by his playing!! You can read my post New Jazz from Saxophonist Vincent Herring – The Uptown Shuffle!! to find out more about Vincent and the album. Tonight to celebrate Vincent’s 50th, I thought I’d go back and listen to one of his earliest albums Dawnbird released in 1993 on the Landmark label. Ron Wynn write this about the album in his review at AllMusic….
There is more spark, ambition and drive in his playing on this release than any previous date; he tries new things on each number and isn’t afraid to stretch out. He is working with two bands and is consistently excellent with both units, and his sparkling sound overcomes the difference in quality between groups and makes this by far his best release. Read More
Herring works with two bands on the album. Here’s the impressive list of the players. What players played on which of the eight tracks on the album I can’t tell you but can tell you that the trumpets and piano are great on all the tracks, as is the rhythm section and of course Mr.Herring…here’s the musician line-up for the album
Vincent Herring: Alto and Soprano Saxophones; Wallace Roney, Scott Wendholt: Trumpet; Mulgrew Miller, Kevin Hayes: Piano; Ira Coleman, Dwayne Burno: Bass; Billy Drummond, Carl Allen: Drums.
Since I was listening to Dawnbird on Spotify and it finished, I have moved on and am now listening to Herring’s 1990 release Evidence, which was also released on the Landmark label On Evidence, Herring was joined by one of the bands that would join him on Dawnbird the players were: Wallace Roney: Trumpet; Mulgrew Miller: Piano; Ira Coleman: Bass; and Carl Allen: Drums. Listening now to the track “Hindsight”! (note to self- check on Mulgrew Miller, duh!). Both of the albums were produced by the legendary Orrin Keepnews!
So Vincent, I hope you had a nice birthday, I know I had a nice night listening to your great saxophone! And for everyone reading this here’s the title track from Dawnbird…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r6oPfIgqIk
Here are some links for further exploration of Vincent Herring’s music….
All About Jazz Vincent Herring: Early On [Evidence/Dawnbird
AllMusic:Vincent Herring