Marcus Strickland Quartet + Eric Harland's Voyager: Live From 92Y Tribeca

This installment of The Checkout: Live From 92Y Tribeca features two heavy hitters. Saxophonist Marcus Strickland's upcoming double album Triumph of the Heavy, Vol. 1 & 2 is so named because it seeks the weight of substance and integrity. Drummer Eric Harland pounds the skins with heft and finesse alike; now in his mid-30s, he's already played on a lifetime's worth of records.

Perhaps you know Strickland from the bands of Roy Haynes, Dave Douglas and Jeff "Tain" Watts. Perhaps you know Harland from bands of Charles Lloyd, Dave Holland, McCoy Tyner or Joshua Redman. You get the point: The biggest jazz musicians want these guys for their bands.

Strickland and Harland are beginning to emerge as bandleaders themselves. Strickland has been working with a quartet; it features the lean muscularity of his horn and is grounded by rapport with his twin brother, drummer E.J. Strickland. Harland has just released his debut CD as a leader in the U.S.: Voyager: Live By Night highlights the polychromatic firestorm of his playing as he drives a crackling young band.

The Marcus Strickland Quartet and Eric Harland's Voyager quintet performed a live radio broadcast and online video webcast on WBGO's The Checkout: Live From 92Y Tribeca Tuesday, Aug. 9.

 

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Video Highlights

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Marcus Strickland Quartet

Personnel

• Marcus Strickland, saxophones
• David Bryant, piano
• Ben Williams, bass
• E.J. Strickland, drums

Set List

• "Mudbone"
• "Surreal"
• "A Temptress' Gait"
• "Dawn"
• "Lilt"

Eric Harland and Voyager

Personnel

• Eric Harland, drums
• Walter Smith III, tenor saxophone
• Julian Lage, guitar
• Taylor Eigsti, piano
• Harish Raghavan, bass

Set List

• "Treachery"
• "Turn Signal"
• "Voyager"
• "Eclipse"
• "Cyclic Episode" (Sam Rivers)
• "Maiden"

• "Get Your Hopes Up" (T. Eigsti)