Another one of my long overdue conversations took place last week when I finally got to chat with Orrin Evans. One of the most versatile and exciting musicians around today, Orrin is nominated for a second Grammy Award for his latest release with his powerful Captain Black Big Band, The Intangible Between.
Evans has advanced his career shuffling between various musical entourages, from the Big Band to his smaller groups like Tarbaby (recording with Eric Revis, Nasheet Watts, and Stacy Dillard or Oliver Lake) and trios with artists from Christian McBride and Kariem Riggins to Dave King and Reid Anderson in The Bad Plus. In between are his quartets and quintets, often featuring Revis or Ben Wolfe on bass, Watts or Donald Edwards on drums and the likes of Sean Jones, Larry McKenna and J.D. Allen on sax.
His latest iteration of the Captain Black Big Band features both new and old friends: Troy Roberts (tenor sax), Dillard (tenor and soprano sax), Immanuel Wilkins (alto and soprano sax), Todd Bashore (flute and alto sax), Caleb Wheeler Curtis (alto sax), Jones, Josh Lawrence and Thomas Marriott (trumpet), David Gibson, Stafford Hunter and Reggie Watkins (trombone), Dylan Reis, Revis, Luques Curtis and Madison Rast (bass), Mark Whitfield Jr., Anwar Marshall and Jason Brown (drums). The album kicks off with "Proclaim Liberty, " a timely tune brought to the Band by Josh Lawrence, and kicked into overdrive by solos from rising star Immanuel Wilkins. From there, the Band goes from strength to strength, including the Monk classic "Off Minor" (arranged by Lawrence) and the long "Tough Love," featuring poetry and spoken word that takes the album to another level.
Podcast 795 is my conversation with Orrin Evans, as we discuss The Intangible Between, his entrance into The Bad Plus, what he looks for in band members, and more. Musical selections include Proclaim Liberty " and "Off Minor", plus one of three versions of the standard "All the Things You Are" from his recent trio album The Evolution of Oneself, and "The Red Door," one of the tunes he has contributed to The Bad Plus repertoire.
