Mar 30, 2026 10:30 PM
Flea Finds His Jazz Thing
In the relatively small pantheon of certifiable rock stars venturing into the intersection of pop music and jazz, the…
Composer Tom Harrell’s new studio album, Wise Children, hit stores Sept. 9 on Arista’s Bluebird label with 10 new, original compositions.
The 20th recording from the trumpeter and flugelhornist once again brings together his quintet of tenor saxophonist/flutist Jimmy Greene, pianist Xavier Davis, bassist Ugonna Okego and drummer Quincy Davis. The album also features guest vocalists Cassandra Wilson, Dianne Reeves, Claudia Acuña and Jane Monheit and guest instrumentalists Howard Johnson, Café and Reuben Rodgers, among others.
“Every time I record a new album , I try to make it different from what I’ve done in the past,” Harrell said of his vocal follow-up to 2002’s Live At The Village Vanguard. “Everything is in flux. It’s like…surrealism: The minute you feel you’ve got a grip on life, it’s already slipped away and changed into something else. You can’t do the same thing over and over again.”
For more information, go to www.bluebirdjazz.com
“Cerebral and academic thought is a different way to approach music,” Flea says of his continuing dive into jazz. “I’ve always relied on emotion and intuition and physicality.”
Mar 30, 2026 10:30 PM
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