Forgotten treasures - James Farm
Today, among our forgotten treasures, we are happy to rediscover the elegant, melodic, harmonious music of the super group James Farm, in which four virtuosos come together. And they are Joshua Redman on saxophone, Aaron Parks on piano, Matt Penman on bass and Eric Harland on drums. When four musicians from such a class come together, one starts to ask a variety of questions - after all, each of them is a master in his field. The result here is impressive, and their two released albums sold out literally days after their release.
We came across the music of James Farm during another collaboration of Joshua Redman - with the great The Bad Plus trio and their visit to Istanbul for another jazz festival.
Even then, the first impression of James Farm was for a completely different temperament and themes in music.
And the melodies grabbed us right away.
With their debut album of the same name, James Farm (Nonesuch 2011) had already won the attention of listeners and critics. The undisputed hit Two Steps from their second album "City Folk" (Nonesuch 2014) had gained the rather unpopular for jazz music status of an almost pop song. And the album itself - sold out from all the shops… It was necessary to search, order, wait …
Redman's saxophone, Parks' piano, along with Penman's bass and Harland's drums are an example of amazing harmony and mutual thought. As the musicians themselves often share, the common thought and the pursuit of dialogue are decisive and they feel as if they are on their way, but its end is unknown. The journey itself is important.
Today we go together with them on this interesting journey with several songs from both albums.
We start with Two steps.
Following are two live performances from their debut album of the same name.
November 2021
Image ©МА
