CHILDREN ON THE CORNER
Rebirth (Sonance)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

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Sonny Fortune, Badal Roy, Michael Henderson, Barry Finnerty and Leon "Ndugu" Chancler are all veterans of Miles Davis' bands, which tells immediately tells you that even if you don't know a name or two, you know the quality of musicianship. As Children On The Corner, they are led by keyboardist Michael Wolff (who never did play with Davis but is dynamite nonetheless) in a live set of genuinely exciting and entrancing explorations of Davis material. The approach is basically "fusion" of the sort familiar to fans of 70s era Weather Report and Brand X, which makes for some spacy, interesting, funky explorations of pieces like "Black Satin," "New York Girl" and especially "Directions." The Joe Zawinul-penned piece stays fresh and interesting in this format despite being 21:13 in length, thanks especially to Wolff's funky keyboarding, Fortune's gritty sax solos and some rock spice thrown in by guitarist Barry Finnerty, whose solos zig and zag and echo through the soundscape. It's not an entirely funky affair, though; fans of "Tone Poem" won't be outraged at all by Fortune's fine performance. In all honesty, anyone who stuck by Miles all the way (meaning "did not quit listening in a huff when Bitch's Brew was released) should like this.

© 2003 - DJ Johnson