Within the jazz spectrum, there have been a number of individuals whose proficiency on their respective instrument of choice has caused them to be cited as the genre’s standard bearer in that respect. To wit, John Coltrane and Charlie Parker have pretty much defined the idiom as saxophonists. Likewise, Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie irrefutably cemented their legacies as jazz’s defining artists with respect to the trumpet. In turn, few have attained such a high level of proficiency on the guitar as did Wes Montgomery and Django Reinhardt.
However, the role of the flute in the jazz realm has to date not been as distinctly defined. The Moe Koffman Quartette certainly demonstrated its potential with his 1958 monster classic, The Swingin’ Shepherd Blues (Jubilee 5311). In 1962, Herbert Jay “Herbie Mann” Solomon set the standard of excellence with his landmark Herbie Mann At The Village Gate album (Atlantic SD-1380). But in the ensuing years, the impact of the flute on jazz was largely defined by occasional reminders from such capable soloists as Hubert Laws, Jerome Richardson, Nestor Torres and the late Ronald Theodore “Rahsaan Roland” Kirk.
However, those limited expectations are bound to change with Lady Of The Island, the latest release by New York-based flautist, composer and producer Andrea Brachfeld. A professional musician since the age of sixteen and an alumnus of the band Charanga ’76, Brachfeld has established an admirable legacy not only in jazz, but in many other genres, as well, including country, funk and Gospel.
Happily, Brachfeld also excels as a bandleader, as Lady Of The Island underscores in abundance. She is joined herein by such capable luminaries as co-producer and keyboardsman Bill O’Connell, bassist Andy Eulau, drummer Kim Plainfield, trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, and trumpeters Yasek Manzano (who doubles on flugelhorn on the pensive Crosby, Stills and Nash cover that serves as the title track) and Wallace Roney (whose hard hitting If Only For One Night CD for the HighNote label was cited by Blitz Magazine as one of the best new releases of 2010).
Indeed, it is a combination of both the interpretive skills of the assembled players and Brachfeld’s acumen as both leader and visionary that in part enables all concerned to change moods with seeming effortlessness from track to track. Witness the genial camaraderie of the original opener, Bebop Hanna (complete with brief nods to the aforementioned Moe Koffman), whose title alone suggests the basic tenets of the project’s overall mission statement …
– Michael McDowell, October 31, 2012, BlitzMag.Blogspot.Com