James Brandon Lewis - For Mahalia, With Love [2LP]

James Brandon Lewis - For Mahalia, With Love [2LP]For Mahalia, With Love the highly anticipated new album by tenor saxophonist composer James Brandon Lewis & his Red Lily Quintet, following on their poll sweeping Jesup Wagon reimagines songs made famous by the gospel icon who galvanized a nation with her voice. Whereas Lewis used his transformative talents to newly illuminate renaissance man George Washington Carver on Jesup Wagon, the saxophonist does the same here for gospel music force of nature

For Mahalia, With Love the highly anticipated new album by tenor saxophonist-composer James Brandon Lewis & his Red Lily Quintet, following on their poll-sweeping Jesup Wagon reimagines songs made famous by the gospel icon who galvanized a nation with her voice.

Whereas Lewis used his transformative talents to newly illuminate renaissance man George Washington Carver on Jesup Wagon, the saxophonist does the same here for gospel-music force of nature Mahalia Jackson. And this time it's personal, because Lewis lived her music growing up, nurtured by a grandmother who had received Mahalias singing like a bolt from above.

Much more than a tribute, this work is really a three-way conversation between Mahalia, my grandmother and me. The challenge was to turn these songs into jazz, the 21st century variety. What James and the band [ William Parker-bass, Chad Taylor-drums, Kirk Knuffke-cornet, Chris Hoffman-cello ] conjure with this music is miraculous.