Stefon Harris Grand Unification Theory CD

Personnel: Stefon Harris (vocals, vibraphone, marimba, percussion); Tim Warfield (tenor saxophone); Derrick Gardner (trumpet, flugelhorn); Anne Drummond (flute, alto flute); Steve Turre (trombone, shells); Douglas Purivance (trombone); Mark Vinci (clarinet); Xavier Davis (piano); Tarus Mateen (bass); Kahlil Kwame Bell (drums, percussion); Terreon Gully (drums); Myles Weinstein (timpani).
Recorded at Avatar Studios, New York, New York on March 28 & 29, 2001. Includes liner notes by Stefon Harris.
THE GRAND UNIFICATION THEORY was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album.
Personnel: Stefon Harris (vibraphone, marimba, percussion); Tarus Mateen (vocals); Anne Drummond (flute, alto flute); Mark Vinci (clarinet); Tim Warfield (tenor saxophone); Derrick Gardner (trumpet, flugelhorn); Steve Turre (trombone); Douglas Purviance (bass trombone); Xavier Davis (piano); Terreon Gully (drums); Kahlil Kwame Bell (bass drum); Myles Weinstein (timpani).
Recording information: Avatar Studios, New York, NY (03/28/2001-03/29/2001).
Photographer: Nitin Vadukul.
Arranger: Stefon Harris.
The popular vibist's fourth solo outing is also his most ambitious, something appealing, yet often odd and maddening in an attempt to cast jazz as cinema. Simply listening to the multiple moods, colors, and atmospheres here can bring many possible interpretations to just what his theory is, but the journey is at least never dull. His prologue is straightforward, joyous, and swinging jazz with a shimmering lead melody and solo over Tarus Mateen Kinch's lively bass and Terreon Gully's nimble drum fills and hi-hat. Then the ambition (or what some might see as pretention) takes over, and "The Birth of Time" is a hypnotic, mystical slice of zany avant-garde. Wade through, and you'll arrive at its best moments -- Anne Drummond's flute whimsy and the eventual movement into a jamming quartet led by Tim Warfield's tenor. "Velvet Couch" shows a resuming sanity, a mix of big band energy with '60s soul-jazz, but the party voices of "Transition" lead listeners into the new agey jungle known as "Corridor of Elusive Dreams." If you let go of the idea that this is supposed to be a regular trad jazz project, you can have fun with the mysterious escapade "Escape to Quiet Desperation" and the African vocal at the center of the creepy "Song of the Whispering Banshee." All of this crazy push and pull culminates in a ten-minute title track that, not surprisingly, moves from too many minutes of discordance into a feisty jazz explosion. Long after you've listened, you'll be thinking about the trip Harris has taken you on. Hopefully, you won't have gone completely crazy by then trying to figure out the itinerary. ~ Jonathan Widran
Despite the title, there isn't a lot that's unified on vibraphonist Stefon Harris' THE GRAND UNIFICATION THEORY. As song titles like "Corridor of Elusive Dreams," "Escape to Quiet Desperation," and "The Mystic Messenger" might indicate, the album is a grab bag of experimental sounds and stylistic shifts woven together with moments of melodic post bop and other excerpts from the traditional jazz handbook.
Though the album may not appeal to purists, THE GRAND UNIFICATION THEORY will intrigue those with open ears. The expressionistic "Song of the Whispering Banshee," with its African-inflected vocal centerpiece, conveys a kind of elemental beauty. "The March of the Angel" is an intriguing piece full of martial beats and scalar climbing. Where the funkified "The Velvet Couch" brings things back to earth momentarily, the 10-minute title track is a labyrinth of exploratory tempos, gestural phrasing, uptempo jams, and an orchestral finale. Intrigued? The scope and ambition alone of Harris' THEORY are enough to merit the album a listen.

Vibraphonist

Mojo (Publisher) (4/03, p.106) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Superbly recorded and played..."