Alvin Queen Trio – Feeling Good

American drumming legend Alvin Queen follows up on the success of his previous celebrated releases with FEELING GOOD, an expertly curated program of thirteen songs (nine on the LP) representing American music and culture in its many forms. Two musicians ideally suited for the standard piano jazz trio format – Carlton Holmes on piano and Danton Boller on bass – fill out the group.

Alvin Queen’s storied career has now spanned sixty-three years and brought him together with some of the great names in jazz history, including Kenny Barron, Grant Green, Horace Silver, George Benson, Nina Simone, Art Farmer, Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Hargrove, Mulgrew Miller, Milt Jackson, and Thad Jones, just to name a few. Especially of note are two all-time examples of the jazz piano trio format he was involved in: the Kenny Drew Trio with bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and the Oscar Peterson Trio (also with Niels-Henning).

Elvin Jones, his lifelong mentor, has dramatically influenced Alvin Queen’s musical language on drums. However, his palette also includes a more modern and nuanced sensitivity that allows for his bandmates‘ deep, expressive, and improvisational contributions.

Of the thirteen songs on the new album, the eldest dates back to 1926, while at the other end of the spectrum, the “youngest” song included here was written in 1985. Queen recruited two fantastic musicians to help him explore and reimagine the program for this endeavor: pianist Carlton Holmes and bassist Danton Boller.  In addition to leading his own bands, Carlton Holmes has performed and recorded with Lionel Hampton, Freddie Hubbard, Kenny Garrett, Branford Marsalis, Max Roach, Stevie Wonder, Diane Reeves, Cassandra Wilson, Donald Bryd, Howard Johnson, and many others. He performed with drum great Charlie Persip for several years and has a nearly twenty-year working relationship with drummer Michael Carvin.

Danton Boller has toured and recorded with many top jazz artists as a member of the Roy Hargrove Quintet and Big Band, Bennie Wallace Trio & Quartet, Seamus Blake’s Quartet, Ari Hoenig’s “Punk Bop,” Willie Jones III’s Quartet, and the Anthony Wilson Nonet, in addition to having toured and performed with Mulgrew Miller, Bennie Wallace, Ronnie Mathews, Steve Nelson, Kenny Barron, Russell Malone, Robert Glasper, Kurt Elling, Greg Tardy, Eric Harland, Rodney Jones, and the Village Vanguard Orchestra.

The songs appearing on this album span fifty-nine years of music history and include six songs from musicals, four inked by fellow jazz artists, two songs from movie soundtracks, and a pop tune from 1961 (that has since become a jazz standard).

Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer’s Out of This World first gained widespread acclaim as Bing Crosby sang it in the 1945 film Out of This World. It Ain’t Necessarily So, by George and Ira Gershwin, comes from their 1935 musical Porgy and Bess. With its shuffle tempo and straight-ahead approach, this interpretation plays into the strengths of all three musicians. Waltz for Ahmad is a song by American jazz pianist and composer Jack Wilson, appearing on the 1977 album INNOVATION. This jazz waltz features Danton’s lyrical bass playing and Alvin’s light brushwork, perfectly catering to Carlton’s work on the keys.

This much-anticipated project arrives after the celebrated success of Alvin Queen Trio’s NIGHT TRAIN TO COPENHAGEN in 2021 (which captured the #3 spot on JazzWeek’s 2022 Year End Top 100 Jazz Chart). FEELING GOOD is an essential musical statement but goes well beyond that, reminding us to celebrate the legacy of jazz, stage, and film music from the past as we make music into the future. The Alvin Queen Trio has done it again!

OUT OF THIS WORLD / IT AIN’T NECESSARILY SO / WALTZ FOR AHMED /
BLEEKER STREET THEME / LOVE WILL FIND A WAY / THE NIGHT HAS A THOUSAND EYES /
SPARTACUS LOVE THEME / FEELING GOOD / FIRM ROOTS / SEND IN THE CLOWNS /
FALLING IN LOVE WITH LOVE / SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME / THREE LITTLE WORDS.

Carlton Holmes: Piano, synth. Danton Boller: Bass. Alvin Queen: Drums.

CD: STUCD 24042, LP: STULP 24041 Alvin Queen Trio, Feeling Good, Stunt Records, Sundance Music ApS, 2024.