Brandon Ross' BLAZING BEAUTY [usa]
Wenn die Rede auf den Gitarristen und Komponisten Brandon Ross kommt, so wird er stets für seine enorme Vielseitigkeit gerühmt. Er tourt und nimmt Alben mit so vielen Jazz- und Popgrößen auf, dass er auf eine sehr beachtliche Tourneeliste und Discographie verweisen kann. Dazu zählen Auftritte und Aufnahmen mit Henry Threadgill, Jewel, Arrested Development, Oliver Lake's Jump Up, Butch Morris' Ensembles, Arto Lindsay, Muhal Richard Abrams, Archie Shepp, Leroy Jenkins, Kip Hanrahan, Don Byron, Me'Shell N'degeocello, Tony Williams, den Lounge Lizards und vielen anderen mehr. Er ist einer der Co-Leader des elektrischen Powertrios Harriet Tubman. Seit 1993 ist Ross musical director der Band von Cassandra Wilson.
In seinem eigenen Quartett BLAZING BEAUTY spielt Brandon Ross nicht nur elektrische und Akustik-Gitarre, sondern auch Banjo. "Future-Folk" nennt er selbst die Musik, die er für die Band schreibt: auf der einen Seite sind das Songs, die in ihrer subtilen Zartheit fast zerbrechlich wirken, aber auch Stücke, die (näher an Harriet Tubman) ihre Kraft aus strudelnden, elektrischen Powerpassagen entwickeln. Mit Stomu Takeishi (Myra Melford, Cuong Vu, Erik Friedlander, … ), J.T. Lewis (Harriet Tubman, Vanessa Williams, Henry Threadgill, Sting, Whitney Houston, Marianne Faithful, …) und Ron Miles (Bill Frisell, Don Byron, the Ellington Orchestra, …) hat er dafür besonders exquisite Musiker gefunden.
Viele der Songs von BLAZING BEAUTY krönt Brandon Ross darüberhinaus mit seiner seelenvollen, in höchstem Maße einnehmenden Stimme.
“We've always known that he is an immensely diverse guitarist, yet nothing has prepared us for this, his second solo effort and a most creative and enchanting pop/jazz treasure. "If You Come to Me" opens with delicate, sweet singing and elegant acoustic guitar. Brandon reminds me of Stevie Wonder on "May as Well Know", which features some lovely chromatic harmonica and is completely touching. "Aloeifa" is a dreamy mostly instrumental with sublime guitar, superb melodic bass and that wonderful spinning grace that JT Lewis does so well. Harriet Tubman-like, perhaps a bit more laid back.”
– Downtown Music Gallery Newsletter, Feb. 2007
Brandon Ross – guitars, banjo, vocals / Ron Miles – trumpet / Stomu Takeishi – bass / J. T. Lewis – drums
Album: Puppet (Intoxicate Records, 2007)
Tour: festivals on request
Guitarist and composer Brandon Ross is drawn to “formless forms” of art. He tours and records with many luminaries of the jazz and new music fields, including Henry Threadgill, Butch Morris, Leroy Jenkins, and Oliver Lake. Since 1993 he has been musical director for vocalist Cassandra Wilson.
Besides co-leading the electric power trio Harriet Tubman, he is leading his own quartet BLAZING BEAUTY. Here, Ross is dividing his time between electric and acoustic guitars and six-string banjo. “Future-folk music” is his term for this family of sounds, at once pastoral, dissonant, intimate and subtly avant garde. Cultivating an oasis amid skyscrapers, Ross often subdivides the group in a number of ways: he and bassist Stomu Takeishi (Myra Melford, Cuong Vu, Erik Friedlander, … ) play acoustic duos of exquisite minimalism, J.T. Lewis (Harriet Tubman, Vanessa Williams, Henry Threadgill, Sting, Whitney Houston, Marianne Faithful, …) joins for tight trio pieces, and cornet great Ron Miles (Bill Frisell, Don Byron, the Ellington Orchestra, …) rounds out the line-up to form a quartet that creates an all magical vibe.
And Ross sings! His exquisite voice is most endearing and often quite gentle and precious, but bluesy enough to give it some edge.