Magic … is one of the most overused terms for describing music. You seldom hear something that is really magical. On the other hand, the American bandleader Ray Anderson is a magician if there ever was one. His magic wand is the trombone. He masterly breaks down the boundaries between magic and reality, spirit and the physical, tradition and utopia.

A trombone solo album is not exactly an everyday commodity, because the instrument is considered somewhat bulky, unwieldy and grumpy. In the hand of a master like Ray Anderson, however, one wonders how these prejudices could have come about, because he simply makes music with the trombone. "I've had this idea in my head since I started playing solo concerts in 1982," Ray Anderson recalled. "Anthony Braxton recorded the solo record ‘For Alto’ in 1969, where the challenge of playing an instrument alone without accompaniment is particularly interesting. So why not on the trombone too? Albert Mangelsdorff has recorded beautiful solo albums, and that by George Lewis is also very inspiring.”

CONTENTS:

• Roswell Rudd: Keep Your Heart Right
• Ray Anderson: Marching on, Blues for John Lewis
• Ellington: Just Squeeze Me
• Ray Anderson: Early Morning in the Andersonorious Jungle
• Coltrane: Equinox
• Irving Kahal, Sammy Fain, Pierre Norman: You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me
• Ray Anderson: Choppers
• Ray Anderson: The Sisyphus Effect
• Mancini, H: Moon River

REVIEW:

Trombonist Ray Anderson draws on New Orleans parade traditions, Chicago street smarts, New York assertiveness and a lifetime of often challenging experiences to provide this enriching album.

-- Downbeat