Nascence

by Scott Yanow This Columbia album was recorded shortly after trumpeter Terence Blanchard and altoist Donald Harrison left Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers to form their own group although it was their third recording project together co-leading a quintet. Pianist Mulgrew Miller, bassist Phil Bowler and drummer Ralph Peterson Jr. give the horns solid and stimulating support on two Blanchard pieces, three Harrison originals, "Alabama" and "She's Out Of My Life." Harrison has rarely sounded as advanced and as distinctive as he did in this group while Blanchard shows a great deal of potential that he later realized.