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| Reviews of Children on the Corner and Rebirth |
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| Read great reviews of Rebirth on Amazon.com |
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SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
Oct. 2, 2003
CHILDREN ON THE CORNER
REBIRTH
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Miles Davis tribute groups are nothing new, but Children on the Corner is, thanks to a lineup featuring five former Davis band members and a welcome emphasis on the jazz-meets-hard-funk-style Davis explored in the late 1960s and early ‘70s. The five—saxophonist Sonny Fortune, bassist Michael Henderson, ex-Santana drummer Ndugu Chancler, Indian percussionist Badal Roy and guitarist Barry Finnerty — are joined on this potent live album by keyboardist Michael Wolff.
Together, they blaze through such underexposed gems as Joe Zawinul’s “Directions” and the Davis-penned “Black Satin” and “New York Girls, Parts I and II. Wolff, who was the bandleader on TV’s “Arsenio Hall Show,” contributes the fetching ballads “Madimba” and “Tone Poem.” All eight pieces featured here strike a fine balance between well-oiled precision and freewheeling improvisation, all the while showcasing a neglected period of Davis’ epic career that seemed to anticipate trip-hop, trance and acid-jazz by several decades.
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George Varga - Pop Music Critic
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JAZZIZ MAGAZINE
December, 2003
CHILDREN ON THE CORNER
REBIRTH
FISSION - RE-ENGERGIZING MILES
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On Rebirth, Michael Henderson and company turn in scintillating versions of "New York Girl" and "Black Satin" from On the Corner and "Directions" (a frequently-played concert tune from 1970 which asppears on Live at the Filmore West and newly expanded editions of In a Silent Way and Jack Johnson), along with originals such as "Oakland Raga", "Tone Poem" and "Bb Philly Funk."
Their sound as a group often evokes the intensely visceral grooves that fueled Davis' electriv juggernaut 30-some years ago.
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Bill Milkowski
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JAZZ REVIEW.COM
November 29, 2003
CHILDREN ON THE CORNER
REBIRTH
Fusion
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Like Pete Cosey's Agharta band, Children On The Corner are dedicated to perpetuating the still-controversial "electric period" of that Prince of Darkness, the late Miles Davis. While it's easy to take that time in Miles' music (roughly 1969-1975) for granted now, back then many old-line jazz and Miles fans alike thought it was, to put it mildly, crap. (When I interviewed him some years ago, trumpeter/composer Wadada Leo Smith said, after the first listen to an early electric Miles album - Bitches Brew, I think it was - he threw it across the room. It grew on him though, after a time - note his tribute to MD Yo Miles.) But it did expand Miles' audience, influencing generations of musicians in not only jazz but in rock and R&B/funk. These Children include alumni of Miles' bands: Sonny Fortune, Badal Roy and Michael Henderson, among others, and they do the music proud, mainly because they use it as a jumping-off point and don't attempt to merely re-create what came before. This ensemble tackles a Joe Zawinul piece ("Directions"), a couple of Miles' ("New York Girl," "Black Satin"), a couple by keyboardist Michael Wolff and some free group improvisations. COTC do capture the spirit of Miles' sound (circa albums On The Corner, Agharta, Live/Evil): dense, rolling, bubbling, funk-charged (but not always funky) rhythms; dark, surreal, dreamlike/nightmarish textures, pointed; rhythmic solos that seem to come out of nowhere, then burn brightly before subsiding into The Dark. Fortune gets off some scorching solo time - as great as he is on his own albums, he seldom sounds this hot. N. Chancler and M. Henderson lay down some heavy slabs on their respective axes, and B. Finnerty's sleek lines capture some of the chunkier qualities of former Miles guitarists Cosey and John McLaughlin, albeit with a bit more of a funk orientation. Fans of electric Miles will eat this up, and lovers of the jam-band sphere (Burnt Sugar, Gov't Mule, etc.) ought to check into it too (to hear where they got it from, at least in part).
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Mark Keresman
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ALL ABOUT JAZZ
Oct. 27, 2003
CHILDREN ON THE CORNER
REBIRTH
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Following a rash of acclaimed digitally re-mastered reissues on the Columbia/Legacy label, a new wave of interest has been sparked in Miles Davis' most volatile and controversial period, the electrified '70s. Now -- 30 or so years after the fact -- a number of respected Miles alumni have joined forces to recreate and reinterpret this intensely visceral and highly provocative groove-oriented, rock-tinged jazz. Billed as Children On The Corner (a sly reference to Miles' groundbreaking 1972 studio recording, On The Corner), they are now spreading Miles' edgiest, most unabashedly electrified music in clubs, concert halls and festivals around the world. Their debut release, Rebirth hits the streets on October 7th from Sonance Records. A whole new audience who missed out on this fiercely uncompromising sound the first time around can now picking up on what Michael Henderson and his crew are putting down.
Alongside saxophonist Sonny Fortune (a Miles alum from 1974 who appeared on Big Fun, Agharta, Pangaea and Get Up With It), tabla player Badal Roy (who played a key role on 1972's On The Corner), drummer Ndugu Chancler (who toured Europe with Miles for one month in 1971 as a sub for Jack DeJohnette), guitarist Barry Finnerty (who played on Miles' 1981 comeback album The Man With The Horn) and keyboardist Michael Wolff (who although he never played with Miles Davis was hugely influenced by Miles' electric years, as evidenced by his 2001 release, Intoxicate), Henderson conjures up some of the same bubbling, subversive and influential grooves that shook up the world 30-some years ago. On Rebirth, a live set recorded at the renowned Oakland, California jazz spot, Yoshi's, the music sounds as ferocious now as it did back in the day.
The exemplary ensemble fires off tunes from Miles' fusion canon. Included are fiery interpretations of Josef Zawinul's "Directions" from the Davis LP of the same name and "New York Girl" and "Black Satin" from On the Corner. In addition to some incendiary tracks culled from live collective improvisation are two pieces by Michael Wolff that capture the spirit and vibe that these Miles alumni bring to this music that so influenced their individual musical journeys.
Henderson, the one-time Motown session bass player was recruited into the ranks of Miles Davis' most turbulent ensemble in 1970 during a series of jam-oriented recording sessions that ended up on A Tribute to Jack Johnson. Davis, a pugilist himself, recorded this soundtrack for an obscure documentary film on the life and times of the audacious heavyweight boxing champion from the early 1900s. Henderson would remain with Miles through 1975, appearing on such groundbreaking recordings as Live/Evil, On The Corner, Get Up With It, Agharta, Pangaea and Dark Magus. He described his duties with Miles during those turbulent but productive years: "He basically wanted me to just keep it funky. When I was with Stevie Wonder, that's what I did. Stevie Wonder was pretty funky his damn self so he didn't need nobody to keep it funky, but when I was with him, that's what we played...funk. And Miles wanted that, too. He wanted me to give him bass lines that were memorable. Nothing too busy, just solid stuff. Heavy groove. Something that you can remember. He wanted to get into having hit records."
Taking his cues from two reigning black pop stars of the day -- Sly Stone and Jimi Hendrix -- Miles became intent on purveying groove music, but with his own unique twist that incorporated bits of free jazz, Indian classical music, Afro-Cuban percussion and searing rock decibels on top. Henderson played a key role in Davis' plan by remaining the rock steady anchor in the fray, the deeply-rooted fulcrum upon which everything pivoted. His deep-toned ostinatos and vamps provided a kind of hypnotic glue that brought all the parts -- no matter how turbulent and potentially chaotic they might become -- together into a cohesive yet kinetic whole. "That's what he hired me for," says Henderson, "to come in and take control and to keep it there. In fact, that was my job with everybody I worked with before Miles, just to come in and keep it solid. Miles definitely knew what he wanted, always."
Striking out on his own in 1976, when Miles went into a self-imposed exile, Henderson went on to gain international renown as a singer-songwriter-producer who wrote and performed on several Top 10 hits, including Norman Connors' Grammy-winning "You Are My Starship" and his own 1980 hit "Wide Receiver." He recorded as a solo artist for Buddah Records from 1976 to 1983 and later recorded duets with singers Phyllis Hyman, Bobby Womack and Johnnie Taylor. Since forming Children on the Corner in 2002, Henderson has watched the band gel naturally through the age-old process of gigging.
"We're growing, just like Miles' band from those earlier years did over time. We've been out there hitting it and there's something very special happening for us right now. At first it was a struggle to get this band back on the scene but it seems very timely that this project is coming out now. It's going to strike up a whole other thing, maybe help stir up interest in Miles music of that period. To pull this project off successfully, it was just a question of getting the right people involved, going through the material from that period and doing it right. I just feel blessed that we got the right cats for this project and that we're putting this music out there again. Now's the time."
Lest anyone misunderstand, Michael is quick to point out, "This ain't no smooth jazz. Don't come to hear us and get ready to eat your steak and sit there and have a conversation with your old lady. It ain't happenin'. Because when we hit the stage, we mean business. We're going for the throat."
The sheer visceral power that Michael Henderson helped unleash in Miles Davis' most provocative and electrified ensemble from the 1970s is still reverberating around the world. And it's found a new home in Children On The Corner, the keepers of that volatile flame. Hear them explode out of the gate and stretch to the stratosphere on Rebirth, their incendiary debut on Sonance Records, a label specializing in live recordings from an eclectic variety of bands from all genres.
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Reviewed by the All About Jazz Staff
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Read the original review at www.allaboutjazz.com
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ALL MUSIC GUIDE
Oct. 6, 2003
CHILDREN ON THE CORNER
REBIRTH
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Even more come across the time-worn paths of ether and obscurity: Children on the Corner is a collective made up of ex-Miles Davis sidemen from his eclectic years that include Sonny Fortune, Michael Henderson, Badal Roy, Ndugu Chancler, and Barry Finnerty. The band is led by keyboardist and composer Michael Wolff, the only non-Davis personnel. Rebirth was recorded live over two nights at the popular Oakland, CA, nightspot Yoshi's. The program is a set of tunes from Davis, as well as some group and Wolff originals. The album kicks off with one of the most inspiring readings of Josef Zawinul's "Directions." For over 21 minutes, Fortune and Wolff explore the outer reaches of Davis' loose harmonic universe. The small vamps and riffs are deceptive in that they provide a framework for all kinds of harmonic interaction across numerous planes. Dissonance and groove enter into a beautiful dialogue as Fortune blows the living hell out of his sax. Wolff's fills with the right hand to provide a reference not for returning, but for jumping off, and Finnerty's razored chords and riffing patterns keep blues and funk in the forefront of the groove itself. "New York Girl" is done is two parts here with the band's own "Oakland Raga" — featuring Roy's shimmering tablas on the tip of the greasy funk underneath inserted between sections of Wolff's own compositions. "Madimba" and "Tone Poem" are melodic tonal studies that borrow from Davis' modalism as much as they do his minimalism and open the way for the psychedelic street jam "Bb Philly Funk." The set closes with an elongated, greatly inspired performance of the singsong-y "Black Satin," with the rhythm section bringing it home into the mysterioso Selim S'evade darkness with nods to George Clinton. In all, this is a fine, deftly played, and emotionally fired-up recording, one of the better post-Davis tributes out there; it deserves to be heard for the depth of inspiration and sheer musicianship between bandmembers alone.
That the music stands on its own outside the Davis connection is a tribute to the emotional and musical commitment of Children on the Corner.
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Reviewed by Thom Jurek
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ENTERTAINMENT TODAY
Oct. 11 - 17, 2002
SOUND CHECK
CHILDREN ON THE CORNER
B.B. KING'S CITY WALK
OCTOBER 3, 2002
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Miles Davis was one of the most revered and amazing musicians of the last century, a man who was revolutionary and fearless in his vision, never giving a damn what the public may have thought about the directions he took, because the only muse that Miles understood and cared was the one that drove him to establish artistic highways whose road map others invariably referred to. His was a vision that was monumental and groundbreaking, and is the stuff of which master thesis are made.
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The period following his landmark Bitches Brew sessions, the Miles Davis of the early to mid-70s, is one of the least heard and most misunderstood chapters of his long career. Records like On the Corner, Agharta, Pangaea and Live-Evil were excursions into a new land, where funk and restlessness formed a canvas for a music that still sounds futuristic to this day. One of the mainstays of that period, bassist Michael Henderson (yes, the same artist that later did "Wide Receiver"), has formed a new band, Children on the Corner, to keep that spirit alive.
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Children is an all-star band featuring Henderson on bass, Sonny Fortune on saxes and flute, Badal Roy on tablas, Ndugu Chancler on drums and Michael Wolff on keyboards that manages to recapture that spirit without sounding the least bit dated, partly because no one has really delved into this specific music since that time but mainly because the surging bass-driven funk that forms the platform still sounds fresh and modern - Davis, as always, was so far ahead of the curve that folks are still playing catch-up. People like George Clinton and the Red Hot Chili Peppers have borrowed from the cauldron, but Children on the Corner have made it the main dish once again.
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Joined for this engagement by guitarist Barry Finnerty, yet another Davis alum, the music that emanated from the stage over the course of the evening was like a trip back to the past and the future at the same time, splashing colors throughout the room as the music ebbed and receded like some aural tide, a living, breathing beast whose heartbeat came from Henderson's bass. The solos and songs followed one another in an entirely organic flow that was an astonishing and breathtaking display of what can happen when six masters get together to form a single mission: to keep alive a forgotten legacy. Consider it a mission splendidly accomplished.
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Reviewed by Paul Anderson
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JAMBASE.COM
July 19, 2002
GET WITH IT: CHILDREN ON THE CORNER
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The pre-show buzz at Yoshi's was more than 25 years in the making: Children on the Corner, an all-star electric jazz unit culled from past Miles Davis collaborators, was set to debut their revamped sound for the jam generation. These 5 vaunted musicians all played with the master at various points during his groundbreaking electric period in the early seventies, throwing down on some of the most wicked, groove-drenched improvised explorations ever recorded. (If you haven't heard them yet, go get Live/Evil and Get up/With It right now. Trust me.) Miles and his co-conspirators literally redefined jazz, brought it to the streets with boogaloo breakbeats, hypnotic, exotic percussion, funky wah-wah guitar, and rolling bass lines tailored to thrill a crowd still tripping on Pink Floyd and the Doors. Purists were frightened by Miles' demonic innovations, but by combining the aggressive, rhythmocentric energy of rock with soulful, intuitive jazz improvisation, he paved the way for the jazz/funk/rock amalgam that flavors the modern jam scene.
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As soon as the first cymbal sizzled with a head nodding breakbeat, it was clear this set was going to be hot. Ndugu Chancler's kit was massive, a full-on rocked out array, and his expansive, intricate rhythms locked in with bassist Michael Henderson's syncopated rumble with unbelievable force. Badal Roy added earthy flourishes on tablas, his ancient instruments' distinctive tone resonating best during his several solos. Sonny Fortune moved effortlessly from soprano to alto to flute, his tone as diverse as his instruments. At times he led the group with hard, wailing lyricism; then he would fade into color and texture, adding squonks and short percussive runs while Michael Wolff took off on keys. Wolff's setup was also rather extensive, with baby grand piano, pedaled Fender Rhodes, and Hammond organ all at his fingertips. At times he handled two simultaneously, laying down thick, soulful Hammond chords underneath the Rhodes' bright melodies. It was easy to hear the spirit of JFJO's Brain Haas in his keys, and Henderson's nimble, mind-blowing bass, which kept me completely mesmerized, brought to mind Dave Murphy's (STS9) understated yet commanding bass runs. The band easily leveraged abstract, dissonant musings with tight, ecstatic culminations. At several memorable moments the band hit full steam, charging as one into deep sonic space with overflowing wisdom and joy.
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Along with a few originals, they kicked out several Davis tunes from On the Corner, dense and dark midtempo jams that enveloped the audience with swirling texture and atmosphere. It's easy to hear this sound in other, younger bands on the jam scene, but this stuff is the true roots, the original funky fusion. Yeah, they're older players, but that only adds to the allure. Watching these guys all channeling the energy, tapping into their collective experience, is profoundly powerful. They're aware of their contribution to modern music, and are eager to go work with some of the younger talent on the jam scene (Sound Tribe Fred on the Corner, anyone?). Children on the Corner are a revelation-check them out if you can, and get back to where it all began.
Jonathan Zwickel
JamBase San Francisco Correspondent |
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Neil Stubenhaus On Michael Henderson
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When Miles Davis was asked what qualities he looked for in a musician, one of the things he said was, "If I like the way a musician plays two notes, I'll hire him to play those two notes." Michael Henderson played two-note grooves that redefined Miles Davis's band and created a newfound, earthy quality and energy that blew the roof off any room they played. He provided an anchor for Jack DeJohnette and Keith Jarrett and established a unique, solid foundation for them to stretch to their hearts' content.
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When I ventured out on a three-hour drive to Massachusetts to see Miles at Lenny's on the Pike in 1970, I had no idea the group's new bass player would compel me to entirely re-think my concept of feel and groove, as well as my role as a bass player altogether. This gig happened to be Henderson's first live gig with Miles. There was an indescribable energy coming from the club—you could feel it from a hundred yards away. Blood was rushing through the bodies of everyone standing in line—many of whom never gained entry—and Henderson was the core of that energy. One would assume that when you throw a 19-year-old R&B bass player together with the planet's heaviest jazz musicians, he couldn't possibly be prepared musically or otherwise. But Henderson didn't flinch. He grooved with DeJohnette like he was born to do just that. Everyone paid attention. Everyone was knocked out.
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All of my favorite bass players on Motown and other R&B records had not prepared me for the depth of the Henderson groove. There was nothing like it. Miles Davis and Stevie Wonder obviously agreed.
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A Los Angeles studio musician for almost 25 years, Neil Stubenhaus has played on hundreds of albums, film and TV scores, and jingles.
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