MUSIC REVIEW BY Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move
Bebop, Always Alive: Trumpeter Anthony Stanco's Live Album Bridges Past and Present.
Recorded at a historic Michigan venue, Stanco's third album proves that bebop is not only back in style but also very much alive, thanks to a new generation of musicians blending tradition with modern energy.
Live jazz recordings are enjoying a renaissance in 2025. And why not? With recording technology advancing at lightning speed, we can now hear a concert with such clarity that it often feels like being in the room. For listeners, that means the thrill of spontaneity without sacrificing sound quality. Anthony Stanco's latest release is a case in point: a live recording that captures both the pulse of bebop and the compositional voice of a trumpeter who refuses to treat the idiom as a relic of the past.
Except for two tracks, Duke Pearson's contribution on the second cut and Randy Napoleon's work on the seventh, the album is built on Stanco's original pieces. What emerges is a recording that conveys the spark of a live performance yet retains the polish and precision of a studio project. The energy is immediate, the musicianship razor-sharp, the sound almost immaculate.
A Hard Bop Lineage, Rooted in Detroit
This project follows the path set by Stanco's Time (2024) and places the trumpeter firmly within the hard bop tradition. The grooves are authentic, the emotional core undeniable. Recorded at The Alluvion in Traverse City, Michigan, a venue with a history as rich as the music it presents, the album captures the singular energy of an exceptional evening. Each piece feels infused with the landscape that surrounds the city: the waters, the atmosphere, the sense of place.
The Alluvion's founder, pianist Jeff Haas, contributes a composition of his own and pens the liner notes, while visual artist Lisa Flahive paints the cover art in real time during the performance, a striking reminder of jazz's ability to inspire creativity beyond music. The concept recalls Cannonball Adderley's celebrated live sessions, and at times the groove evokes the Blue Note era of the 1960s, when music was both serious in craft and playful in spirit.
Modernity in the Arrangements
Bebop may be in vogue again, but in Stanco's hands it is far more than a fashion revival. The idiom, as heard here, is alive with new ideas. Guitarist Randy Napoleon underscores this vitality: his playing reveals how modern harmonies and textures can breathe fresh life into familiar rhythmic patterns. Stanco himself, a native of southeastern Michigan, leans into the deep musical roots of Detroit. Mentored by jazz luminaries Marcus Belgrave and Rodney Whitaker, he has developed a sound that honors tradition while speaking in a distinctly contemporary voice.
Cinematic Turns and Romantic Shadows
The album is not all fire and velocity. On Pyramid Point, Stanco veers into impressionism, conjuring a mood so evocative it feels as though Erik Satie had slipped into the pianist's chair. The piece, romantic in tone and cinematic in scope, becomes a canvas for Stanco's expressive palette. Here, as elsewhere on the record, the trumpeter demonstrates his ability to create alternate musical worlds, spaces where tenderness and delicacy carry as much weight as swing and drive.
The supporting musicians are no less integral. Their subtlety and responsiveness lend the project a sense of balance, enabling Stanco's flights of imagination without ever overwhelming the ensemble's collective voice.
A Global Ambassador of Bebop
Beyond the stage, Stanco has built an international career. With his quintet, he has performed at the Java Jazz Festival in Jakarta and the Cairo Jazz Club in Egypt. As a cultural ambassador for the U.S. State Department, he has toured South Africa, Indonesia, and other countries, spreading bebop across borders. His role as an educator adds yet another dimension. One imagines the fortune of his students, who learn from a musician capable of making the past speak to the present, and of showing that bebop's legacy is not frozen in history but unfolding in real time.
Jazz That Lives in the Moment
What lingers most from this live album is not just the quality of the playing or the finesse of the recording, but the audible presence of the audience. Their reactions, gasps, applause, laughter, remind us that jazz thrives in dialogue, not monologue. Bebop, as presented here, is both serious and joyful, meticulously crafted yet never overbearing.
In Anthony Stanco's hands, the style remains what it always was at its best: music that breathes, reacts, and insists on being alive.
Recorded at a historic Michigan venue, Stanco's third album proves that bebop is not only back in style but also very much alive, thanks to a new generation of musicians blending tradition with modern energy.
Live jazz recordings are enjoying a renaissance in 2025. And why not? With recording technology advancing at lightning speed, we can now hear a concert with such clarity that it often feels like being in the room. For listeners, that means the thrill of spontaneity without sacrificing sound quality. Anthony Stanco's latest release is a case in point: a live recording that captures both the pulse of bebop and the compositional voice of a trumpeter who refuses to treat the idiom as a relic of the past.
Except for two tracks, Duke Pearson's contribution on the second cut and Randy Napoleon's work on the seventh, the album is built on Stanco's original pieces. What emerges is a recording that conveys the spark of a live performance yet retains the polish and precision of a studio project. The energy is immediate, the musicianship razor-sharp, the sound almost immaculate.
A Hard Bop Lineage, Rooted in Detroit
This project follows the path set by Stanco's Time (2024) and places the trumpeter firmly within the hard bop tradition. The grooves are authentic, the emotional core undeniable. Recorded at The Alluvion in Traverse City, Michigan, a venue with a history as rich as the music it presents, the album captures the singular energy of an exceptional evening. Each piece feels infused with the landscape that surrounds the city: the waters, the atmosphere, the sense of place.
The Alluvion's founder, pianist Jeff Haas, contributes a composition of his own and pens the liner notes, while visual artist Lisa Flahive paints the cover art in real time during the performance, a striking reminder of jazz's ability to inspire creativity beyond music. The concept recalls Cannonball Adderley's celebrated live sessions, and at times the groove evokes the Blue Note era of the 1960s, when music was both serious in craft and playful in spirit.
Modernity in the Arrangements
Bebop may be in vogue again, but in Stanco's hands it is far more than a fashion revival. The idiom, as heard here, is alive with new ideas. Guitarist Randy Napoleon underscores this vitality: his playing reveals how modern harmonies and textures can breathe fresh life into familiar rhythmic patterns. Stanco himself, a native of southeastern Michigan, leans into the deep musical roots of Detroit. Mentored by jazz luminaries Marcus Belgrave and Rodney Whitaker, he has developed a sound that honors tradition while speaking in a distinctly contemporary voice.
Cinematic Turns and Romantic Shadows
The album is not all fire and velocity. On Pyramid Point, Stanco veers into impressionism, conjuring a mood so evocative it feels as though Erik Satie had slipped into the pianist's chair. The piece, romantic in tone and cinematic in scope, becomes a canvas for Stanco's expressive palette. Here, as elsewhere on the record, the trumpeter demonstrates his ability to create alternate musical worlds, spaces where tenderness and delicacy carry as much weight as swing and drive.
The supporting musicians are no less integral. Their subtlety and responsiveness lend the project a sense of balance, enabling Stanco's flights of imagination without ever overwhelming the ensemble's collective voice.
A Global Ambassador of Bebop
Beyond the stage, Stanco has built an international career. With his quintet, he has performed at the Java Jazz Festival in Jakarta and the Cairo Jazz Club in Egypt. As a cultural ambassador for the U.S. State Department, he has toured South Africa, Indonesia, and other countries, spreading bebop across borders. His role as an educator adds yet another dimension. One imagines the fortune of his students, who learn from a musician capable of making the past speak to the present, and of showing that bebop's legacy is not frozen in history but unfolding in real time.
Jazz That Lives in the Moment
What lingers most from this live album is not just the quality of the playing or the finesse of the recording, but the audible presence of the audience. Their reactions, gasps, applause, laughter, remind us that jazz thrives in dialogue, not monologue. Bebop, as presented here, is both serious and joyful, meticulously crafted yet never overbearing.
In Anthony Stanco's hands, the style remains what it always was at its best: music that breathes, reacts, and insists on being alive.