The Red Door Orrin Evans

• 1Red Door04:04
• 2Weezy07:11
• 3Phoebe's Stroll07:35
• 4The Good Life09:15
• 5Big Small04:36
• 6Dexter's Tune03:58
• 7Amazing Grace04:12
• 8Feed the Fire05:15
• 9All The Things You Are04:25
• 10Smoke Rings02:43
• 11They Won't Go When I Go05:22
• 12I Have the Feeling I've Been Here Before03:33
• Total Runtime01:02:09

Info zu The Red Door

What’s behind THE RED DOOR? For pianist Orrin Evans, that question has come to symbolize the daring path his life and music have taken over the course of his three-decade career. On his latest album, he once again flings that door open, delighting in the collaborators, friends, inspiration, and history that he finds inside.

Growing up in the Pentecostal church, Evans explains, the color red came to signify the negative: think blood, sin, the temptation embodied in red light districts, all things infernal. Approaching a red door, then, is a daunting prospect. The image manifested for him recently when he overheard someone say, “I don’t see color” – itself something of a red flag.

“I’ve realized that along with red meaning ‘warning’ or ‘stop,’ it also represents so many beautiful things,” he says. “Roses are red, and Valentine’s hearts. So, I do see color, and we all should see color, but we shouldn't see the negative history that comes along with it. Instead, we need to allow ourselves the opportunity to walk inside and discover what’s behind the red door.”

Looking back, Evans has opened that door time and again, always with fortuitous results. There was the decision to pursue a life in jazz, the initial red door that led to a series of others: summoning the courage to test his mettle in the notorious jam sessions at Ortlieb’s Jazzhaus in Philly; braving a move to New York with growing confidence but no sure prospects (“I didn't get a gig, but I got a wife,” he laughs); launching his own big band, a formidable undertaking that’s ended up garnering him two Grammy nominations; joining The Bad Plus, putting him under microscopic scrutiny, the striking out on his own again despite the band’s ongoing success.

Many of the musicians who join Evans on THE RED DOOR connect to those periods of discovery and growth. The album features two core bands: one the rhythm section of bass legend Buster Williams and veteran drummer Gene Jackson, joined by the late trumpet master Wallace Roney or Philly living legend Larry McKenna on tenor; the other a quintet with trumpeter Nicholas Payton, saxophonist/flutist Gary Thomas, bassist Robert Hurst and drummer Marvin “Smitty” Smith. In addition, the album features guest appearances by vocalists Jazzmeia Horn, Sy Smith, and Alita Moses.

“I could connect everybody on this record to something good that happened once I got beyond all the fear and said, ‘F**k it, I'm going to go through this door and see what happens,’” Evans asserts. “This is a tribute to all of those people who have contributed to my history, development, and growth and are connected to the beauty I’ve found on the other side.”

In many cases, the elders on the album are artists whom Evans had long dreamed of working with, or acquaintances from the past whom he felt he was long overdue to reconnect with. Roney, who hired Evans early in the pianist’s career but whose path he hadn’t crossed in the intervening years, passed away in March 2020, an early casualty of the pandemic, bringing home the urgency of working with these masters while they’re still among us.

COVID also claimed the great tenor titan Bootsie Barnes. Evans had originally planned to include Barnes with fellow Philly legend Larry McKenna, who was Evans’ first music theory teacher. McKenna unfurls a simmering, lyrical solo on “The Good Life,” his first meeting with the great Buster Williams. “All the Things You Are,” meanwhile, brings West Philly natives Roney and Gene Jackson together for the first time since both were featured on Joey DeFrancesco’s 1990 big band album Where Were You? – and in that case, the two were never in the studio together. The album closes with the aching ballad “I Have the Feeling I’ve Been Here Before,” rendered by the trio of Evans, Hurst, and Smith.

The Red Door opens with the title track, which Evans originally recorded with The Bad Plus on 2019’s Activate Infinity. Payton had recorded with Evans as a guest with the collective trio Tarbaby, but Thomas’s presence finally makes up for the saxophonist’s inability to make the session for Evans’ 2002 Palmetto debut, Meant to Shine. Early on, Evans recalls, “Gary was on the other side of that door for me because he was working with Uri Caine and Ralph Peterson.”

Hurst, Smith, and Jackson all harken back to the progressive 80s jazz sound that the pianist was reared on, working with the likes of Kevin Eubanks and Branford Marsalis. Evans had only worked with Hurst and Smith once apiece – the drummer on a never-released Kevin Eubanks recording, the bassist on a Terri Lyne Carrington performance. “I don’t apologize for loving that 80s music and 80s sound,” Evans insists.

“Weezy” and “Phoebe’s Stroll,” the latter of which pares the quintet back to a swaggering trio, are both named for Evans’ godchildren – Sean Jones’ daughter Phoebe and Eloise, the daughter of his booking agents. The trio also essays the lovely “Dexter’s Tune,” a Randy Newman composition from the soundtrack of the 1990 film Awakenings. The quintet reconvenes for Geri Allen’s “Feed the Fire,” and Ralph Peterson Jr.’s “Smoke Rings,” both composed by influential figures lost too soon.

As always, Evans’ recording dates tend to adhere to a liberal open-door policy (red or otherwise), in this case, welcoming three gifted vocalists to the ever-growing village. Jazzmeia Horn gives an impassioned reading of Bill McHenry’s lyric for Evans’ “Big Small,” which originally appeared on his 2012 trio album Flip the Script. Sy Smith took a break from her busy touring schedule with Chris Botti to sing Geri Allen’s arrangement of “Amazing Grace,” while Alita Moses duets with Evans on a spare, compelling rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “They Won’t Go When I Go.”

The musicians with whom he collaborates may not always know what to expect when they walk into an Orrin Evans studio date, but he flings that red door open for them. Now it’s the listeners’ turn to enter. “It's a swinging party on the inside.”

Orrin Evans, piano
Nicholas Payton, trumpet (1, 2, 5, 10)
Gary Thomas, tenor saxophone (1, 5, 10); flute (2)
Robert Hurst, bass (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12)
Marvin “Smitty” Smith, drums (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12)
Wallace Roney, trumpet (9)
Larry McKenna, tenor saxophone (4)
Buster Williams, bass (4, 9)
Gene Jackson, drums (4, 9)
Jazzmeia Horn (5)
Sy Smith, horn (7)
Alita Moses, horn (11)

Orrin Evans
takes stock of the pivotal moments that shape the trajectory of a life on The Evolution of Oneself, his scintillating new release on Smoke Sessions Records. The album is itself a landmark in Evans’ musical evolution, introducing a remarkable new piano trio with two longtime associates but first-time collaborators: bassist Christian McBride and drummer Karriem Riggins. The result is a raw and thrilling excursion incorporating a startlingly wide range of influences, from jazz and neo-soul to country and hip-hop.

As suggested by the title, The Evolution of Oneself explores deeply personal terrain, with Evans reflecting on the road he’s traveled to become the man and musician he is today. “This album is about personal evolution,” he explains. “For me, there have been different moments or people in my life that have made me evolve. You can call it change, but ultimately you’re still the same person from the day you came out of your mother’s womb. But you evolve, and that process is what this record is about.”

The Evolution of Oneself explores deeply personal terrain, with Evans reflecting on the road he’s traveled to become the man and musician he is today.

Through 25 albums as a leader and co-leader, including his neo-soul/acid jazz ensemble Luv Park and the bracing collective trio Tarbaby, Evans has always followed a vigorously individual path. The Evolution of Oneself is no exception, with Evans setting a pace that brings out fiery, gut-churning playing from both McBride and Riggins – two of modern jazz’s most renowned and distinctive voices in their own rights.

McBride, of course, shares Evans’ Philadelphia origins, roots that both have taken great pride in over the course of their careers. But despite only a three-year difference in age, they’ve only worked together a handful of times, never on record. Evans met Riggins more than two decades ago, prior to his move to New York; Riggins later stayed with Evans and fellow Philly expat Duane Eubanks in their New York City apartment upon his own move to the city. Still, it wasn’t until a recent tour under Riggins’ leadership that the two shared any significant stage time together. The Evolution of Oneself finally provided the long-overdue opportunity for Evans to collaborate with both of them, forming a powerhouse new trio in the process.

The album is framed by three very different takes on the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein standard “All the Things You Are,” a song which Evans says represents the most important factor in his own personal evolution: his family. The lyrics, he explains, captures the support and devotion that his wife, Dawn Warren Evans, has provided through the ups and downs of a career in jazz. “My evolution is based on the past twenty years with this woman who’s had my back and accepted all the things I am,” he says.

The couple recites those lyrics together over an electronica track produced by their youngest son, Matthew Evans, on the penultimate version. (Older son Miles doesn’t appear, but provided the inspiration for two tracks, “For Miles” and “Tsagli’s Lean.”) The album opens with an up-tempo run through the tune that sets the spirited tone for what is to come, while it closes with a languorous reimagining featuring McBride’s dirge-like bowed bass and the haunting, soulful moan of vocalist JD Walter. 17-year-old Matthew also produced the hip hop-tinged “Genisis” interludes that pepper the album, culled from his home recordings of his father and mixed by bassist/producer Anthony Tidd, famed for his work with both The Roots and Steve Coleman’s Five Elements.

Orrin Evans recording session is always a family affair, with a party atmosphere and guests stopping by whether they end up contributing or not.

While The Evolution of Oneself takes the concept more literally than usual, an Orrin Evans recording session is always a family affair, with a party atmosphere and guests stopping by whether they end up contributing or not. “Being in the studio and doing what I do is no different than a cookout on a Saturday night,” Evans says, and that openness is reflected in the raucous verve of this album.

The date’s other special guest is guitarist Marvin Sewell, responsible for its most surprising moment: the country-blues slide guitar that introduces the traditional Americana folk song “Wildwood Flower,” made famous by the Carter Family. His introduction to the song came via drummer Matt Wilson, and Evans’ rendition is dedicated to Wilson’s late wife Felicia. While one might not expect to hear a country music influence coming from Evans, the beauty of the song is undeniable — and he naturally turns the down-home feel inside out and makes it wholly his own.

Beyond McBride’s involvement, Philly is well represented on the album. The sultry R&B groove of Grover Washington Jr.’s “A Secret Place” offers the chance for both to pay homage to the late saxophonist, who resided in Mt. Airy, the same Philadelphia neighborhood that Evans has long called home. “One of my only musical regrets is not recording with Grover Washington Jr.,” Evans admits. “He was really cool and he lived right around the corner, but at that time in my life I didn’t understand how accessible he was. I don’t think people know how bad he was as a saxophonist, as a musician, and as an artist.”

Evans credits Philadelphia trumpeter Jafar Barron as one of the key players in the development of the neo-soul movement, and tips with hat with Barron’s composition “Jewels and Baby Yaz.” Bassist Jon Michel’s swinging “Sweet Sid” was written in memory of pianist Sid Simmons, a mentor to Evans and countless young Philly jazz musicians.

The album is rounded out by a loose-limbed, sharp-angled take on “Autumn Leaves,” the airy ballad “February 13th” by bassist and fellow Tarbaby member Eric Revis, and a half-dozen Evans originals representing the impressive reach of his stylistic imagination. With this album Evans marks a profound breakthrough in his personal evolution, one that has progressed beyond categories and into the realm of unfettered expression.

Dieses Album enthält kein Booklet