Johan Budi
The Convergence of Sacred and Secular: Ron Carter and Ricky Dillard’s Sweet, Sweet Spirit
In a landmark joint venture, Motown Gospel and Blue Note Records have released Sweet, Sweet Spirit, a collaborative album featuring the Dillard New-G Choir and the most recorded bassist in jazz history, Ron Carter. This project serves as a poignant tribute to Carter’s mother, Willie Carter, and bridges the gap between the structured fervor of the Black church and the improvisational depth of jazz.
Historical Context and Development
The genesis of Sweet, Sweet Spirit dates back several decades to the final weeks of Willie Carter’s life. According to archival accounts of the production, she requested that her son sit with her and perform the hymns of his childhood in Detroit. Carter recorded his bass accompaniment to these traditional songs to provide comfort to his mother during her illness. The current release integrates these foundational bass recordings with the contemporary power of Ricky Dillard’s New-G Choir.
The Carter family’s roots in Detroit are deeply intertwined with the city’s rich gospel tradition. Historically, the Black church has served as a primary incubator for musical talent in America, a "soul cry" that has influenced nearly every genre of American music. Sweet, Sweet Spirit follows a long lineage of jazz-gospel hybrids, a tradition that includes Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s crossover successes, Mary Lou Williams’ 1964 masterpiece The Black Christ of the Andes, and Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concerts.
Musical Structure and Technical Execution
The album opens with "Open My Eyes," featuring lead vocalist Kirisma L. Evans. The track is characterized by a rhythmic "pumping pedal-point" that builds momentum through handclaps and choral crescendos. Throughout the ten-track discography, Ron Carter’s bass provides a resonant, steady anchor, a technical necessity when balancing the "belting" vocal styles common in high-energy gospel music.
Other notable tracks include "Everybody Will Be Happy" and "Just A Closer Walk With Thee," the latter featuring a complex vocal performance by Avery*Sunshine. The recording quality emphasizes the spatial relationship between the choir’s exuberance and the woody, authoritative tone of Carter’s upright bass. The album was recorded across various locations and dates, reflecting a long-term assembly process that culminates in a 53-minute exploration of faith and musicianship.
Operatic Jazz Fusion: Roy Powell’s Aria and the Puccini Legacy
British pianist Roy Powell, now a long-time resident of Norway, has released Aria, an album that reimagines the operatic works of Giacomo Puccini through the lens of modern jazz. Released on Losen Records, the album features Powell’s long-standing trio with Italian bassist Lorenzo Feliciati and drummer Lucrezio de Seta.
The Evolution of the Italian Songbook
Powell’s exploration of Italian musical heritage began in earnest in 2007 through his partnership with Feliciati. Their previous collaborations, including the 2009 album Napoli and the 2024 release The Italian Songbook, focused on Neapolitan and Roman songs. Aria represents the next logical step in this chronology, moving from folk traditions to the high art of 19th-century opera.
The conceptual inspiration for Aria stems from an unrealized historical possibility. Music historians have noted that Gil Evans and Miles Davis once discussed a potential jazz interpretation of Puccini’s Tosca. While that project never came to fruition, Powell used that "what-if" scenario as a creative springboard. The resulting music blends the "cool" aesthetic of Scandinavian jazz—a byproduct of Powell’s thirty-year residency in Norway—with the emotional intensity of Italian verismo opera.
Stylistic Synthesis and Performance
Recorded in Rome in February 2025, the album features Puccini staples such as "Vissi d’Arte," "E Lucean Le Stelle," and "Nessun Dorma." The trio employs a variety of rhythmic frameworks; for instance, "O Mio Babbino Caro" is delivered with a country-inflected, lyrical style reminiscent of Keith Jarrett’s Americana period. Conversely, "My Funny Valentine"—the only non-Puccini standard on the record—is reimagined with a contemporary jazz-rock pulse.
The technical interplay between Feliciati and de Seta provides a modern, often plangent foundation for Powell’s fluent piano work. The inclusion of original compositions like "Soseeji" and "Les Belles Femmes" suggests that the trio is not merely covering opera but using its melodic structures to inform a new, hybrid vocabulary.
Avant-Garde Maximalism: Simon Hanes and the Gargantua Project
In stark contrast to the melodic focus of Carter and Powell, Brooklyn-based composer Simon Hanes has released Gargantua on Pyroclastic Records. The album is an exercise in musical "gigantism," utilizing a unique large ensemble designed for maximum volume and extremity.
Compositional Strategy and Instrumentation
Inspired by François Rabelais’ 16th-century literary pentalogy Gargantua and Pantagruel, Hanes’ work seeks to mirror the "epic and bombastic" nature of its namesake. The ensemble’s instrumentation is unconventional, consisting of three distinct "trios" working in tandem:
- Three drum sets
- Three electric basses
- Three trombones
- Three French horns
- Three vocalists
This "three-of-everything" approach is designed to create a wall of sound that Hanes describes as both "terrifying and explosively joyous." The compositional influences are exceptionally broad, ranging from Ukrainian trembita music and Tibetan long horns to 1970s hard rock and American minimalism.
The Brooklyn Experimental Scene
Hanes is a central figure in the Brooklyn avant-garde, known for his work with the Italian soundtrack-pop ensemble Tredici Bacci and the noise-thrash trio Trigger. Gargantua represents his most ambitious attempt to synthesize these disparate interests. Tracks like "The Number Of The Beast Is 666" utilize medieval brass structures played by a non-traditional horn section, while "Submit To The Fabulosity" leans into a raucous, cacophonous aesthetic.
The album also explores quieter, albeit still dense, textures. "A Series Of Waves" features intricate bass strumming by Anna Abondolo, Jesse Heasly, and Trevor Dunn. However, the prevailing theme of the record is one of eclecticism pushed to its logical limit, challenging traditional notions of ensemble balance and genre boundaries.
Broader Impact and Industry Implications
The simultaneous release of these three projects highlights several emerging trends in the global music industry. First, the collaboration between Blue Note and Motown Gospel for the Carter/Dillard project suggests a strategic move by major labels to tap into the "crossover" potential of spiritual and improvisational music. As streaming data indicates a growing interest in "mood-based" and "heritage" music, Sweet, Sweet Spirit is positioned to appeal to both traditional jazz listeners and the vast gospel market.
Secondly, Roy Powell’s Aria underscores the continued internationalization of jazz. The migration of musicians and the blending of regional styles—in this case, British, Norwegian, and Italian—create "third-stream" musics that defy easy categorization. This globalization is supported by independent labels like Losen Records, which provide a platform for niche European collaborations.
Finally, Simon Hanes’ Gargantua represents a pushback against the minimalist trends that have dominated contemporary classical and jazz circles for the last decade. By embracing "maximalism," Hanes and Pyroclastic Records are catering to an audience that values complexity, high-volume performance, and the dismantling of cultural hierarchies.
Future Outlook
As these artists tour and promote these works throughout 2025, the industry will be watching for the critical and commercial reception of such varied approaches. Whether it is the soulful resonance of Ron Carter’s bass, the operatic precision of Roy Powell’s piano, or the "fabulous" chaos of Simon Hanes’ horns, these releases confirm that the current state of jazz is one of expansion, reflection, and relentless experimentation. The integration of historical tribute with forward-looking composition ensures that the genre remains a vital, evolving force in the 21st century.
