By Frank Alkyer | Published March 2026
There’s no question about Brian Lynch’s mastery of the trumpet and flugelhorn, his skill as a composer and arranger and his fine-tuned taste when crafting music and projects. But the 69-year-old with three Grammy Awards doesn’t get enough credit for knowing how to throw a fascinating musical dinner party. Take, for example, his latest recording, Torch Bearers on his own Hollistic MusicWorks label. “I carry the torch of my heroes,” says Lynch in the press materials with the new recording. And he proves it by inviting in the always-tasteful Charles McPherson to play saxophone and write three tunes for the recording. But Lynch’s heroes aren’t just his elders. He also invites the silky contralto of Samara Joy into the festivities to not only sing on two tunes, but also to write lyrics. McPherson and Joy share songwriting credits on the beautiful, noirish “The Joy Of Love,” a ballad that could comfortably rest in any era of the jazz continuum. Double that statement down with the Lynch/Joy-penned “Pursuit Of A Dream,” another wistful ballad that floats by in the breeze. The Joy-Lynch connection runs deep, as he co-produced her chart-topping, Grammy-winning album Portrait. But the connection between all three artists runs even deeper when the subject of the late pianist Barry Harris comes up. All three artists studied with Harris, who passed in 2021 — McPherson being one of his first students, Lynch in the middle and Joy one of his last. In tribute, Lynch and McPherson tear into an upbeat treatment of Harris’ “Luminescence” backed Rob Schneiderman on piano, Boris Kozlov on bass and Kyle Swan on drums. Throughout the album the star-studded lineup includes pianist Orrin Evans sharing piano duties with Schneiderman along with Luis Perdomo and Ulysses Owens taking the piano and drum chairs respectively on “Pursuit Of A Dream.” It’s great to hear how the other Lynch originals (“Luck Of The Draw” and “Kyle’s Dilemma”) dovetail so smoothly with McPherson’s (“The Juggler” and “7-24”). They close by swinging out to Dizzy Gillespie’s “Blue N’ Boogie,” a fitting dessert at the end of this sonic feast. Somewhere Barry Harris is smiling. He taught them well.
