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Kings Highway
Kings Highway in Bloomington, MN
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Size: CD
The seventh album from drummer
Brian Blade & the Fellowship Band
, 2023's
Kings Highway
finds
Blade
and co-leader pianist
Jon Cowherd
pushing the stylistically wide-ranging ensemble toward a spectral, '70s fusion-influenced sound. Much of this is due to the return of guitarist
Kurt Rosenwinkel
, who amicably parted ways with the group prior to 2014's
Landmarks
. In
Rosenwinkel
's absence,
brought on several other guitarists, including
Jeff Parker
and
Dave Devine
. While equally talented players,
Parker
Devine
favored a more diffuse, sonically textural approach, one that evoked the influence of
Bill Frisell
. In contrast,
has a more melodic style, marked by a bright laser-tone motivity, bringing to mind players like
Pat Metheny
Larry Coryell
. It's a sound that propels
forward and nicely complements the work of bassist
Christopher Thomas
, as well as the dual sax front line of
Melvin Butler
Myron Walden
. There's a golden-hour warmth to
the Fellowship
's sound on
, and the album has the cinematic feeling of an outdoor nighttime concert. Images pop into your mind with each song, as in the opening "Until We Meet Again," which feels like a spaceship ascending Earth's orbit with
's shimmering guitar arpeggios cascading rainbow light through
Cowherd
's dewy synth clouds before
Butler
Walden
join in with their own alien harmonies. The rest of the album follows suit as
and his group slide into the muted, minor-key atmosphere of "Catalysts" and conjure a shadowy gospel noir dreamworld on the ballad "People's Park." While
is completely instrumental, it plays like a low-key amalgam of
Pink Floyd
's stadium psychedelia and
Weather Report
's soulful jazz-rock fusion. It's a vibrant combination they further underline on "Look to the Hills" and "Migration," tracks that find the group taking far-reaching solos over
's dusky chordal keyboard palettes and
's swinging, polyrhythmic grooves. The album glows to the end as they settle into a church organ-accented rendition of the 1880s hymn "God Be with You," cocooning the listener in their warm group vibe. ~ Matt Collar
Brian Blade & the Fellowship Band
, 2023's
Kings Highway
finds
Blade
and co-leader pianist
Jon Cowherd
pushing the stylistically wide-ranging ensemble toward a spectral, '70s fusion-influenced sound. Much of this is due to the return of guitarist
Kurt Rosenwinkel
, who amicably parted ways with the group prior to 2014's
Landmarks
. In
Rosenwinkel
's absence,
brought on several other guitarists, including
Jeff Parker
and
Dave Devine
. While equally talented players,
Parker
Devine
favored a more diffuse, sonically textural approach, one that evoked the influence of
Bill Frisell
. In contrast,
has a more melodic style, marked by a bright laser-tone motivity, bringing to mind players like
Pat Metheny
Larry Coryell
. It's a sound that propels
forward and nicely complements the work of bassist
Christopher Thomas
, as well as the dual sax front line of
Melvin Butler
Myron Walden
. There's a golden-hour warmth to
the Fellowship
's sound on
, and the album has the cinematic feeling of an outdoor nighttime concert. Images pop into your mind with each song, as in the opening "Until We Meet Again," which feels like a spaceship ascending Earth's orbit with
's shimmering guitar arpeggios cascading rainbow light through
Cowherd
's dewy synth clouds before
Butler
Walden
join in with their own alien harmonies. The rest of the album follows suit as
and his group slide into the muted, minor-key atmosphere of "Catalysts" and conjure a shadowy gospel noir dreamworld on the ballad "People's Park." While
is completely instrumental, it plays like a low-key amalgam of
Pink Floyd
's stadium psychedelia and
Weather Report
's soulful jazz-rock fusion. It's a vibrant combination they further underline on "Look to the Hills" and "Migration," tracks that find the group taking far-reaching solos over
's dusky chordal keyboard palettes and
's swinging, polyrhythmic grooves. The album glows to the end as they settle into a church organ-accented rendition of the 1880s hymn "God Be with You," cocooning the listener in their warm group vibe. ~ Matt Collar
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