[CSG Spring 2007] Cindy Blackman's New Lifetime

Last night after dinner at the Columbia faculty club, Tony, Bob, and I went out to Iridium to hear the debut performance of Cindy Blackman's New Lifetime - wow!!!

New Lifetime is Blackman's tribute to Tony Williams, primarily of his Lifetime period in the early-to-mid-seventies. The original Lifetime included Williams on drums, Larry Young on Hammond organ, and a John McLaughlin on guitar (they later added Jack Bruce on bass).

New Lifetime is made up of Blackman on drums, Doug Carn on organ, Greg Osby on alto sax, and Kevin Hunter on guitar. They played mostly the difficult music from the original Lifetime - it was loud, intense, and incredibly energetic. Blackman is a phenomenal drummer, and there was no doubt who the leader of this group is.

I hope this group records - it's worth hearing.

Two nights of great jazz in New York and we barely scratched the surface of what's available - though the early mornings have certainly left me feeling drained at the end of the week.

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