(Bop, Post Bop) James Newton - The African Flower - 1985, MP3, 320 kbps

James Newton grew up immersed in the sounds of African American music, including urban blues, rhythm and blues, and gospel. In his early teens he played electric bass guitar, alto saxophone, and clarinet. In high school he took up the flute, influenced by Eric Dolphy and Roland Kirk. In addition to taking lessons in classical music on flute, he also studied jazz with Buddy Collette. He completed his formal musical training at California State University, Los Angeles.
From 1972 to 1975, together with David Murray, Bobby Bradford, and Arthur Blythe, Newton was a member of drummer (and later critic) Stanley Crouch's band Black Music Infinity. From 1978 to 1981 he lived in New York, leading a trio with pianist and composer Anthony Davis and cellist Abdul Wadud. These three played extended chamber jazz and Third Stream compositions by Newton and Davis. With Davis, Newton founded a quartet and toured successfully in Europe in the early 1980s. Afterwards, he performed with a wide variety of musicians, including projects by John Carter and the Mingus Dynasty. Newton has released four recordings of his solo improvisations for flute. He has also worked with Herbie Hancock, Bobby Hutcherson, Lester Bowie, Leroy Jenkins, Chet Baker, Kenny Burrell, David Murray and Andrew Cyrille. Since the 1990s Newton has often worked with musicians from other cultural spheres, including Jon Jang, Gao Hong, Kadri Gopalnath, and Shubhendra Rao, and has taken part in many cross-cultural projects.
Newton has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Brooklyn Philharmonic, L'Orchestre du Conservatoire de Paris, Vladimir Spivakov and the Moscow Virtuosi, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Southwest Chamber Music, California EAR Unit, New York New Music Ensemble, San Francisco Ballet, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group.

This wonderful set finds flutist James Newton creating fresh interpretations of seven songs written by Duke Ellington and/or Billy Strayhorn. His ensembles include violinist John Blake, altoist Arthur Blythe, cornetist Olu Dara, vibraphonist Jay Hoggard, pianist Roland Hanna (who has long had the ability to emulate Ellington's chord voicings and touch), bassist Rick Rozie, percussionist Anthony Brown, and either Pheeroan Ak Laff or Billy Hart on drums. In addition, Milt Grayson (who had sung with Ellington) takes a guest vocal on "Strange Feeling." Whether romping through "Cottontail," reviving "Virgin Jungle" (heard in an 11-minute version), or taking an unaccompanied flute flight on "Sophisticated Lady," James Newton's tribute set is quite memorable and a real gem.
This is part of Blue Note's Collector's Choice series. These are limited-edition pressings of a few thousand copies.

James Newton - Flute
John Blake - Violine
Arthur Blythe - Alto Sax
Olu Dara - Cornet
Jay Hoggard - Vibraphone
Roland Hanna - Piano
Rick Rozie - Bass
Anthony Brown - Percussion
Billy Hart - Drums
Pheeroan Ak Laff - Drums