Clarence Penn has been one of the most dynamic drummers in jazz since his New York City arrival 33 years ago. His work with Wynton Marsalis, Betty Carter, Diane Reeves and Michael Brecker has been extensively documented, as have his own musical explorations, including 2014's "Monk: The Lost Files." "Behind the Voice" goes a whole new direction as Penn unfurls inventive reimaginings of the works of influential drummers behind some of the greatest pop music created. Songs by Phil Collins, Levon Helm, Stevie Wonder, Peter Gabriel & Dave Grohl receive expansive modern treatments through Penn's production along with a bevy of collaborators, including vocalists Kurt Elling, Aaron Marcellus & Toku, guitarists Adam Rogers & Gilad Hekselman, and many more. "... a celebration of their artistry, their passion, and their indelible mark on the music we cherish." "... gesture and space surging from a place of heart-felt and fluid integrity... Penn exudes such enthusiasm and love for the music-it is simply impossible not to feel uplifted." - JAZZ TIMES

In a deeply impressive and magnificent synthesis of gospel, jazz and contemporary music, Uri Caine tells the moving story of Octavius Catto, born in 1839 in South Carolina to free African-American parents. Catto's family moved to Philadelphia in 1844, where he studied, became an educator, humanities scholar, top cricket and baseball player, and civil rights activist. Together with his fellow campaigners, he achieved the abolition of slavery and discrimination in elections based on race, color, or former serfdom, as well as the creation of educational institutions for African-Americans. Catto was murdered by Frank Kelly during riots on election day in 1871. Octavius Catto: "We shall never rest at ease, but will agitate and work, by our means and by our influence, in court and out of court, asking aid of the press, calling upon Christians to vindicate their Christianity, and the members of the law to assert the principles of the profession by granting us justice and right, until these invidious and unjust usages shall have ceased."

Since he arrived in New York City in 1991, drummer/composer/arranger Clarence Penn has placed his unique blend of mega-chops, keen intellect, and heady musicianship at the service of a staggering array of A-list artists, all documented on several hundred studio albums. On this recording, Penn leads his dynamic quartet through thoroughly fresh and modern renditions of classic Thelonious Monk staples. Filled with the spirit and joy associated with Monk, he's taken all the things he loves in the music and brought them into the present."... gesture and space surging from a place of heart-felt and fluid integrity... Penn exudes such enthusiasm and love for the music-it is simply impossible not to feel uplifted." - Jazz Times

On his long-awaited follow-up to his critically lauded 1996 Criss Cross debut, Penn's Landing (CRC 1134), and the equally powerful Play-Penn(CRC 1201), from 2001, master drummer-percussionist Clarence Pennpresents Dali in Cobble Hill, a meditation on how the iconic Surrealist painter might have digested a stroll through Penn's Brooklyn neighborhood.The eight originals and two standards incorporate a variety of moods, flavors, and strategies that reflect Penn's extensive activity as a sideman for jazz' best-and-brightest over the past decades; his ensemble of grand master generational contemporaries Chris Potter on tenorsaxophone and bass clarinet, Adam Rogers on guitar, and Ben Street on bass inhabit the stories, playing with deep imagination and virtuosic craft.