Jean Toussaint 4, Tate Song (LR022)
(24/2/14, album, CD, download)
 
Jean Toussaint (tenor/soprano saxophones)
Andrew McCormack (piano)
Larry Bartley (bass)
Troy Miller (drums)

Raised in St Thomas, US Virgin Islands, internationally-renowned jazz saxophonist Jean Toussaint found himself in an enviable position on the international stage as a member the historic Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in 1982, after his teacher at Boston's prestigious Berklee College of Music, Billy Pierce, recommended him for an audition. Toussaint spent four and a half years in the band alongside future stars such as Terence Blanchard and Mulgrew Miller, and the Jazz Messengers won a Grammy for The New Tork Scene in 1984. He settled in London in 1986 and quickly became a key figure in British jazz. Toussaint has continued to work in the groups of American icons such as McCoy Tyner, Max Roach, Cedar Walton, Gil Evans and Jeff 'Tain' Watts, and maintained a considerable presence in Europe with his own groups, especially in Britain and France.

Drummer and Lyte Records' owner David Lyttle says, "I first heard Jean Toussaint in my late teens when I'd just got into jazz and was obsessed with Art Blakey. I loved Jean's big, tough sound and when I discovered he lived in London I wrote to him on MySpace. I played with him a couple of years later and it was a fantastic experience. Like other Messengers have said about Blakey, he makes you play better without saying a word and is hugely supportive towards younger musicians as Blakey was. It's truly a milestone to have Jean release with my label."
 
Photo © Benjamin Amure

Tate Song features Toussaint's working quartet of pianist Andrew McCormack, bassist Larry Bartley and drummer/co-producer Troy Miller. The set includes originals by Toussaint and McCormack, plus the standard 'These Foolish Things' and Milton Nascimento's 'Vera Cruz'. Following his 2010 release Live In Paris And London, which The Independent described as "a state-of-the-art disquisition on both sax technique and post-bop jazz", Tate Song is Toussaint's tenth album and includes liner notes by pianist/broadcaster Julian Joseph. Following its release on February 24th the band, also known as JT4, performed fourteen UK dates across March and April, including a headlining show at Ronnie Scott's, London.

We have a limited number of signed copies of Tate Song available now.
     
 
 
 
Artist website: www.jeantoussaint.com
Artist Twitter: www.twitter.com/i_jeantoussaint