© 2024 WEMU
Serving Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County, MI
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Water and Earth Reviewed

With Water And Air, trumpeter Jeremy Pelt re-affirms his dedication to modern black music. Over the years he has absorbed the foundations of jazz: call-and-response, pacing, drama, interplay and tension and release.  It is especially that final principle that operates throughout Air and Water.

"This music isn't about a change in the direction as much as it's about strengthening my commitment to my art at present." - Jeremy Pelt.0000017e-445c-d7f3-a77f-c65ea3890000

The disc is beautifully sequenced from the rushing whirlwind of Mystique to the elegant waltz of In Dreams. The pointillistic pulse of Prior Convictions leads to a fresh and powerful reading of Stanley Clarke’s Butterfly Dreams, the date’s only cover. Pelt’s sympathetic support players include two contemporary keyboard masters well-versed in shading and dynamics: David Bryant and Frank LoCrasto. It was just perfect to premiere Water And Earth on this late winter morning. To complete our 89.1 Jazz playlist, two fine female trumpet players were on the list for Women’s History Month: Bria Skonberg and Stacy Rowles. Their approaches were a fine foil for Jeremy Pelt.

Linda Yohn simply cannot remember a day in her life that was not filled with music. Her early life was full of changes as the daughter of a well-respected cancer research scientist who moved his family about, but one thing was constant: the love of music instilled by her mother. So, when it seemed life was too hard to bear, young Linda would listen to her radio, play her guitar, dance her heart out and sing at the top of her lungs. So, it isn’t so strange that “older” Linda still does all those things!
Related Content