Malachi Thompson: 47th Street (Delmark Records)
Chicago trumpeter Malachi Thompson long ago established himself as one of the more innovative composer-bandleaders in jazz, as his discography with Delmark Records attests. On “47th Street,” which contains the music Thompson wrote for Charles Smith’s recent play “The Sutherland,” the composer works in an idiom that many listeners probably will find more accessible than some of his earlier scores. That’s not to say that this disc — which also features saxophonist Billy Harper, trombonist Steve Berry and bassist Harrison Bankhead — is less than substantial. Rather, Thompson, in writing music for “The Sutherland,” offers an unabashedly nostalgic score, though a well-crafted one. So even if Thompson isn’t inventing new sounds or developing novel ideas here, the exquisite lyricism, lush instrumentation and stylistic authenticity of the project prove consistently effective.
