Penumbra | ||||
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Studio album by The Bennie Maupin Ensemble | ||||
Released | 2006 | |||
Recorded | June 16 and 17, 2003; December 11, 2006 | |||
Studio | No Sound Studios, Pasadena, California; Crypto Studios, Los Angeles, California | |||
Genre | Jazz | |||
Length | 1:00:24 | |||
Label | Cryptogramophone CG129 | |||
Producer | Bennie Maupin | |||
Bennie Maupin chronology | ||||
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Penumbra is an album by multi-instrumentalist Bennie Maupin. It was recorded in California in 2003 and 2006, and was released in 2006 by Cryptogramophone Records. On the album, Maupin is joined by bassist Darek Oleszkiewicz, drummer Michael Stephans, and percussionist Munyungo Jackson. [1] [2]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Penguin Guide to Jazz | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
All About Jazz | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
PopMatters | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
In a review for AllMusic, Thom Jurek wrote: "This is a magical, labyrinthine outing for Maupin. His band is top-flight intuitive, practicing a kind of restraint that never forsakes lyric for mere energy and dynamic. This takes not only discipline, but taste, and Maupin and band are positively beatific in their subtlety." [1]
The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings stated that "Blinkers" and "One for Eric Dolphy" are "strong, hard-to-pin-down statements from a man who's contributed hugely to the background sound of modern jazz but who's still not easily picked out of a line-up." [3]
John Kelman of All About Jazz commented: "Penumbra may surprise listeners expecting Maupin to carry on the electric vibe of The Jewel in the Lotus and Driving While Black, but in many ways the looser organic nature of this effort makes it his most personal and satisfying record to date." [4]
Writing for PopMatters , Daniel Spicer remarked: "Finally, it seems, Maupin is summoning up the gravitas we've hoped for all these years — assuming his rightful position as the pre-eminent bass clarinettist in contemporary jazz, stepping out of the shadow cast by his old teacher, Eric Dolphy... These are messages from the interzone, a summation, signposts. Past and future meeting here and now." [5]
In an article for Something Else!, Mark Saleski wrote: "Maupin's very flexible group does manage to focus so tightly on certain ideas that the musical conceptions make the listener forget about the existence of a group... When the grooves peak on this album, it's very reminiscent of those Miles and Herbie Hancock records that Maupin was a part of." [6]
Chris Kelsey of Jazz Times stated: "There's tons to like and virtually nothing to dislike on Penumbra. Intellectually and emotionally, this music is as nakedly honest and engaging as it gets." [7]
Writing for Dusted Magazine, Derek Taylor commented: "A relaxed and productive temperament pervades the entire album, making it easy to take [Michael] Stephans' observation in the liners that 'we no longer play the music; the music plays us' as tenable gospel." [8]
All compositions by Bennie Maupin.
Bennie Maupin is an American jazz multireedist who performs on various saxophones, flute, and bass clarinet.
Secrets is a jazz-funk fusion album by keyboard player Herbie Hancock. It is also Hancock's seventeenth album overall. Participating musicians include saxophonist Bennie Maupin and guitarist Wah Wah Watson.
Sextant is the eleventh studio album by Herbie Hancock, released in 1973 by Columbia. It is the last album with the Mwandishi-era sextet featuring saxophonist Bennie Maupin, trumpeter Eddie Henderson, trombonist Julian Priester, bassist Buster Williams and drummer Billy Hart. Synthesizer player Patrick Gleeson and percussionist Buck Clarke also appear.
Thrust is the fourteenth studio album by American jazz-funk musician Herbie Hancock, released in September 1974 on Columbia Records. The album reached No. 2 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart and No. 13 on the Billboard 200 chart. It is the second album featuring The Headhunters: saxophonist Bennie Maupin, bass guitarist Paul Jackson, drummer Mike Clark and percussionist Bill Summers.
Flood is the second live album, and sixteenth album overall, by American jazz pianist and keyboardist Herbie Hancock. Recorded live in Tokyo, the album was originally released exclusively in Japan in 1975 as a double LP 洪水, reads kōzui meaning flood. It features The Headhunters performing selections from the albums Maiden Voyage, Head Hunters, Thrust, and Man-Child –– with the latter album still two months away from release at the time of these concerts.
Taru is an album recorded by jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan, recorded in 1968, but not released on the Blue Note label until 1980. The album features performances by Morgan, Bennie Maupin, John Hicks, George Benson, Reggie Workman and Billy Higgins.
Cornell 1964 is a live album by jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus, featuring multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy. It was recorded at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, on March 18, 1964.
The Complete "Is" Sessions is a 2002 Blue Note Records compilation album by Chick Corea of material recorded in May of 1969. The material from the "Is" sessions was released originally on two separate albums on two different record labels. The songs "Is", "This", "Jamala" and "It" were issued as Is on Solid State Records in 1969, whilst the remaining songs were released as Sundance on the Groove Merchant label in 1972. The 2002 Blue Note double CD package also includes alternate takes from the original recording sessions.
The Jewel in the Lotus is the debut album by jazz woodwind player Bennie Maupin, recorded in March 1974 and released on ECM later that year. The sextet's rhythm section consists pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Buster Williams and percussionists Billy Hart, Freddie Waits and Bill Summers, with guest appearances from trumpeter Charles Sullivan. The title is a translation of the Buddhist mantra Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ.
A Book of Luminous Things is the fifth studio album by the Polish jazz singer Aga Zaryan. It was released on June 14, 2011 by EMI Music Poland and Blue Note Records.
The Eleventh Hour is an album by British saxophonist and improvisor Evan Parker's Electro-Acoustic Ensemble recorded in November 2004 and released on ECM the following year.
Jazz flute is the use of the flute in jazz music. While flutes were sometimes played in ragtime and early jazz ensembles, the flute became established as a jazz instrument in the 1950s. It is now widely used in ensembles and by soloists. The modern Boehm system transverse concert flute is commonly used in jazz playing; other members of the same family are used, such as the alto flute in G. Ethnic and other flutes, such as bamboo flutes, have also been used in jazz.
Michael Stephans is an American jazz drummer, writer, poet and college professor.
Darek Oleszkiewicz, also known as Darek Oles, is a jazz bassist, composer, arranger, and educator.
Like a Dream is an album by Darek Oleszkiewicz.
Marion Brown Quartet is an album by American saxophonist Marion Brown, his debut as a leader. It was recorded in November 1965 in New York City, and was released in 1966 on the ESP-Disk label. The album features Brown on alto saxophone, Alan Shorter on trumpet, Bennie Maupin on tenor saxophone, Reggie Johnson and Ronnie Boykins on bass, and Rashied Ali on drums.
Blue Mongol is an album by trombonist Roswell Rudd and the Mongolian Buryat Band, a five-member ensemble led by Mongolian vocalist Badma Khanda, featuring horse-head fiddle and bass, instruments resembling zither, dulcimer, and flute, and a throat singer. It was recorded in 2005 at Nevessa Production in Saugerties, New York, and was released by Sunnyside Records later that year. The album is a continuation of the cross-cultural experiments that Rudd began pursuing with 2002's Malicool.
Driving While Black is an album by multi-instrumentalists Bennie Maupin and Dr. Patrick Gleeson. It was recorded at Different Fur Studios in San Francisco, and was issued in 2006 by Intuition Records. It was Maupin's first release as a leader in 20 years.
Early Reflections is an album by multi-instrumentalist Bennie Maupin. It was recorded in Warsaw, Poland, in September 2007, and was released in 2008 by Cryptogramophone Records. On the album, Maupin is joined by an ensemble of Polish musicians featuring pianist Michal Tokaj, bassist Michal Baranski, and drummer Lukasz Zyta. Vocalist Hania Chowaniec-Rybka also appears on two tracks. Maupin met the players while performing in Poland, and invited them to record with him.
Symphonic Tone Poem for Brother Yusef is an album by multi-instrumentalist Bennie Maupin and percussionist Adam Rudolph. It was recorded at Clear Lake Studio in New Jersey, and was released in 2022 by Strut Records. The album pays homage to Yusef Lateef, who would have been 100 years old in 2020, and who had a personal connection with both musicians.