For a decade now, the saxophonist and composer Benjamin Boone has successfully dedicated himself to combining works by contemporary poets with jazz compositions from his own pen. The collaboration with the award-winning poet Philip Levine in
The Poetry of Jazz Volume Two (posthumous 2018) and
The Poets Are Gathering (2020), both released by the Origin label, were particularly successful.
Now he is following up with an album
Caught in the Rhythm in which the poets Faylita Hicks, Kimiko Hahn, Tyehimba Jess, Edward Hirsch, Patrick Sylvain and T. R. Hummer recite their works themselves. Benjamin Boone, who also shines as a soloist on the soprano and alto saxophone, wrote the poems and had them performed by three different ensembles. He invited trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and alto saxophonist Greg Osby as special guests for one track each. The album offers a kaleidoscope of different styles and moods with a very special flair due to the jazz context that invites you to listen again.
4/5 - "DEFINITELY LISTEN" (Translated from German)