Articulation

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Articulation is the 1978 debut album by American jazz guitarist Rodney Jones, recorded for the Dutch label Timeless and often praised as an overlooked late‑’70s post‑bop gem. Acros s seven tunes—“Articulation,” “1978,” “Hard New York Swing,” “Interlude 1,” “Childville,” “Blues for Wes,” and “Nereda”—Jones introduces himself as a fluid, harmonically sophisticated player who can move from burning bop lines to soulful lyricism, with a warm tone that nods to influences like Wes Montgomery while asserting his own agile, modern voice. The record was cut in the Netherlands but reflects Jones’s deep grounding in the New York scene, where he had already worked with figures such as Dizzy Gillespie and Tommy Flanagan.He’s joined by an all‑star ensemble: Wallace Roney III on trumpet, Arthur Blythe on alto, Bob Mintzer on tenor, Bernadine Davis on flute, Kenny Kirkland on piano, Kenwood Dennard on drums and percussion, Benjamin Brown on drums, Bruce Johnson on bass, and Bemshi Jones on vocals. Tracks like the title piece and “Hard New York Swing” live up to their names with tight, propulsive grooves and fiery horn solos, while “Blues for Wes” pays explicit tribute to Montgomery in a relaxed but harmonically rich blues setting. Recent Music On Vinyl pressings, cut from high‑quality sources on 180‑gram vinyl, have helped reintroduce Articulation to a wider audience as a vibrant snapshot of late‑’70s post‑bop: soulful, swinging, and more adventurous than its clean, straight‑ahead surface might first suggest. Show more