New Jazz Release: Bobby Hutcherson | “Somewhere In The Night” - LISTEN TO STREAMING TRACKS!

Available Now: NEA Jazz Master Bobby Hutcherson Returns

with Somewhere in the Night on Kind of Blue Records

Bobby Hutcherson

Somewhere In The Night

Release Date:

October 16, 2012

First Release in Three Years Continues Vibraphonist’s

Partnership With Organist Joey DeFrancesco

Streaming Tracks From Somewhere In The Night

New York City is the jazz capital of the world and Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola
in Jazz at Lincoln Center is one of the music’s greatest venues. On
October 10, 2009, over the course of two sold-out sets, legendary
vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson recorded what would become Somewhere In The Night. The album, which is being released on Kind of Blue Records on September 25, also features the Joey DeFrancesco Trio — guitarist Peter Bernstein and drummer Byron Landham as well as its organist namesake.

Of
the organist, Hutcherson says, “One thing about Joey, he knows how to
play. He doesn’t play at the same volume all the time. He can play very
soft and then he can increase his volume a lot. Because of that, he’s
very aware of what volume to play with the vibraphone. Even while he’s
soloing, he plays at different volumes. It makes it really good, you
know.” He continues, “Although he’s full of ideas, he never gets in the
way because he sure is very good at tempo. And I don’t mean tempo as
speed… I mean tempo as being able to understand what he’s playing at
any speed, you know, the tempo of life. He paces his notes, so they
don’t come out cluttered. He understands how to deliver a certain thing,
and that’s an important thing to do.”

Somewhere In The Night
manages to capture the live energy of a band in top form. The opening
track “Teddy”, written for Hutcherson’s youngest son, sees the vibes
master build a mammoth improvisation that builds in intensity and tempo,
while “Little B’s Poem”, written for Hutcherson’s oldest son and the
composer’s most famous work, is given new life nearly fifty years later
by rephrasing the melody into a vamp that leads into a spectacular group
improv.

Hutcherson
pays tribute to his late mentor, Milt Jackson, on the legend’s “SKJ”,
and displays his virtuosity on Duke Ellington’s “Take the Coltrane”.
Coltrane’s “Wise One” was the title track of a previous Kind of Blue
release by Hutcherson and is reinterpreted here thanks to DeFrancesco’s
accompaniment. The organist leads with an improvisation before Bernstein
and Hutcherson contribute their touching statements on the melody.

Hutcherson
says of the title track of the album, “every time I play with Joey, we
play that. I always love to hear Joey and listen to his bass line. Yeah,
and that tempo, there’s a longing feeling in it.” Both Hutcherson and
DeFrancesco showcase their ballad chops on Ned Washington and Victor
Young’s “My Foolish Heart”. The vibraphonist says, “it’s good to think
about the song, singing the lyric, because you know the instrument
should be something of a voice. It should be an extension of it. The
things that you listen to that really grab you right away are things
that make you feel like it’s human.”

George
and Ira Gershwin’s “S’Wonderful” closes out the album and features the
quartet all swinging with abandon as the crowd tingles with
participatory electricity. As Todd Barkan, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola‘s veteran producer, put it after Hutcherson and crew’s set, “Take care of the music and it will take care of you.”

Hutcherson,
a California native and long time resident of Half Moon Bay, spent his
formative years in New York, arriving there more than fifty years ago.
Hutcherson has put his stamp on jazz both as a leader and as a sideman
on classic records such as Eric Dolphy’s Out to Lunch and Jackie McLean’s One Step Beyond.
Among the constant gigging and studio sessions, Hutcherson recorded two
albums in the mid-sixties pairing vibes with the Hammond organ, a
popular combination of the era. Grant Green’s Street of Dreams (1964) and Big John Patton’s Let ‘Em Roll
(1965) went largely overlooked but saw Hutcherson’s melodious sound
combine with the Hammond to produce a blanket of silky resonance. Forty
years would pass before the vibraphonist reteamed with the B3 on Joey
DeFrancesco’s Organic Vibes. Somewhere In The Night continues the relationship between the two musicians.

The Best of Blue Note Festival – Joe Henderson’s 75th Birthday

featuring Bobby Hutcherson Renee Rosnes, Chris Potter, and more

November 16 & 17 at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Allen Room

There isn’t a major-league saxophonist under 50 who hasn’t incorporated Joe Henderson‘s
singular language – his flexible sound across the registers, laid-back
phrasing, cat-like approach to rhythm, and clarity of intention. One
such is Chris Potter, who will inhabit the tenor chair
on a 75th birthday celebration of Henderson’s career (and illustrious
Blue Note discography) led by musical director Renee Rosnes
on piano, herself an alumna of several Henderson units. Joining the
fray is NEA Jazz Master and long-time Henderson collaborator and Blue
Note label-mate Bobby Hutcherson on vibraphone. Robert Hurst on bass, plus drum giant Lewis Nash and rising star trombonist-arranger Michael Dease.