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A week before pandemic shutdowns began in March 2020, New Orleans’ contemporary jazz community was buzzing with exciting projects. Performance — but “Side by Side” is the most vivid picture yet of the extraordinary collaboration that takes place between saxophonist Brad Walker and Extended.
Walker and Extended, a trio of pianist Oscar Rossignoli, bassist Matt Booth and drummer Brad Webb, will release their debut studio album, Side by Side, on April 7th. Rossignoli, Booth and Webb are an extended notable ensemble. Add Walker, who has co-starred with Peter Erskine and John Reilly and led the horn section of Sturgill Simpson, and the project is more than the sum of its parts.
“We don’t get to play together very often, but when we do, we seem to capture something special, something unique to the four of us,” says Walker. “Unlike Extended itself, unlike myself. It seems to bring out certain aspects of who we are and elevate it to something greater than otherwise.
The four musicians know each other and have played together in various ways over the years. Walker appears on Webb’s album Making Faces. And when Extended began playing together as a trio in 2016, Walker regularly watched them perform.
“I like to think that when we did our first gig together just before Covid, it all made sense and that it represented all of our personal relationships musically,” says Webb. “These different little duos and trios, the moments on the bandstand, and the conversations when people come out musically and honestly express our relationship.”
In early 2020, Walker scheduled a gig at Baton Rouge Jazz Club Choram Hall on March 11th and invited Extended. The quartet also performed his gig warming up at the small Mid-City club SideBar, which was recorded and later released as his live album. A week later, New Orleans was closed.
“Side by Side” is an album defined by the pandemic “for better or worse,” Booth says. The bad is obvious: lost gigs, sick people, the stress and confusion of his first year. We were able to put more time and energy into this collaboration. We are all busy sideman musicians. ”
The four musicians were able to meet more often, and the project turned from Extended playing on some Walker songs and Walker playing Extended songs to actual collaborations. says Booth.
Extended and Walker recorded “Side by Side” with Misha Kackatishvili at Esplanade Studios in January 2021. Brian Seger produced and mixed a seven-track album containing colorful, energetic originals written by Walker, Booth and Webb, as well as Rossignoli’s arrangements of works by Johannes Brahms. The group also shot an hour-long concert film during the recording sessions.
Webb says the Walker-Extended collaboration works because the musicians trust each other. “The moment the four of us enter the same space, all these threads are woven into something very strong and cohesive. As strong as Extended, but even stronger with Blood.” “
“Side by Side” starts April 7th bradwalkermusic.bandcamp.comWalker and Extended perform album release show April 26th at 7:30pm at Broadside In a visual show created by artist Monica Rose Kelly.
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