JAMES O’DONNELL

TOUGH TALK

Eastlawn Records

James O’Donnell, trumpet/flugelhorn/maracas/vocals; Alvin Paige, tenor & baritone saxes; Mike Zaporski, piano; Djallo Djakate, drums; Kurt Krahnke, string & electric bass. SPECIAL GUESTS: RJ Spangler, congas/tambourine/cowbell; The Planet D Nonet: Charlie Miller, John “Tbone” Paxton, Alex Colista, Ryan Bills, Goode Wyche III, Sean Perlmutter, James O’Donnell, Michael Zaporski, RJ Spangler (bandleader).

James O’Donnell is a proud member of the little big band known as Planet D Nonet.  That band has received eleven Detroit Music Awards for Outstanding Jazz Recordings and/or Outstanding Traditional Jazz Ensemble.

Trumpeter, O’Donnell has been playing music professionally since the late 1970s, starting with the band Kuumba that later became known as the Sun Messengers. On this release, James O’Donnell continues the legacy of swinging funk jazz.  They open with the title tune, “Tough Talk” that sets the mood for this entire album.

Surprisingly, they arrange Stevie Wonder’s tune as a slow swing. It’s a very creative and effective way to present “All In Love is Fair,” a tune Stevie wrote for Nancy Wilson to sing.  Young saxophone musician, Alvin Paige offers a great solo on tenor sax. He’s originally from San Diego, California. I enjoyed the blues infusion that pianist, Mike Zaporski adds to this arrangement.

O’Donnell sings on the Ellington and Don George composition “Tulip or Turnip” and introduces me to a swing tune Duke wrote, with a catchy, creative lyric, that I don’t remember hearing,.

“Tulip or turnip, moonbeam or mudpie, bankroll or IOU, tell me, tell me, tell me, dream face, what am I to you?”

I enjoy O’Donnell’s trumpet solo.  His tone and tenacity ring true throughout this album. He plays with determination and gusto.  On the Eddie Harris tune “Mean Greens,” Djallo Djakate makes his drums talk, laying the funk down sweet and soulful as honey-butter on bread.

On one of my favorite Joe Williams hit records, “I Want A Little Girl” O’Donnell shows off the silky side of his horn.  His tone is so pure and honest.  When he plunges his warm sound, it adds growl and grit to the tune.

This is an album of familiar tunes that James O’Donnell has transformed to fit his stellar trumpet and flugelhorn style. With the assistance of Detroit jazz musicians, they bring mid-western funk, groove and excitement to this production.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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