Live in Willisau: James Brandon Lewis & Chad Taylor Jazz Audio CD
Product description
Specifications
Audio CD format puts this live jazz performance in a familiar physical album format for listening at home or adding to a CD collection. Live in Willisau features saxophonist James Brandon Lewis and drummer Chad Taylor, captured at the 2019 Willisau Jazz Festival. Their performance connects the history of Great Black Music with a contemporary musical conversation, making the album a focused choice for listeners drawn to jazz shaped by improvisation and tradition.
- Name: Live in Willisau
- Format: Audio CD
- Dimensions: 5.52 x 4.97 x 0.38 inches
- Weight: 3.68 ounces
- Manufacturer: Intakt Records
Everyday use
This album suits a dedicated listening session as well as regular rotation in a jazz collection. Its live setting gives the performance a distinct context: Lewis and Taylor played at a festival stage associated with landmark appearances by Dewey Redman and Ed Blackwell, and Max Roach and Archie Shepp. The musicians acknowledge that history while creating a performance grounded in their own present-day exchange.
Lewis’s saxophone and Taylor’s drumming carry the duo’s sound. The first piece pays homage to John Coltrane, while “Willisee” revisits a composition played on the same stage by Redman and Blackwell in 1980. Those connections make the album especially engaging for listeners who enjoy hearing jazz tradition referenced through a new performance, rather than presented as a simple recreation of the past. Compared with a studio recording, this festival album centers on the immediacy of a live musical encounter.
Practical tips
Play the Audio CD on a CD-compatible player and consider listening to the performance as an album, with its festival setting and musical references in mind. It also works well as a physical addition to a jazz shelf for listeners following Lewis’s saxophone work or Taylor’s drumming. The live presentation and its clear links to jazz history give listeners useful context without requiring familiarity with every musician mentioned in the album’s background.
For a listening session, the record offers a concise way to focus on the interaction between saxophone and drums. For a collection, its connection to the Willisau Jazz Festival and its tribute to John Coltrane distinguish it from a general studio release. It’s a great fit if you want a live jazz album that brings an established tradition into a contemporary performance.
What to clarify
Who performs on Live in Willisau? The performance features saxophonist James Brandon Lewis and drummer Chad Taylor.
What is the album’s musical focus? It draws on Great Black Music and jazz history while presenting the musicians’ own contemporary approach. The opening piece pays homage to John Coltrane.
Where was the performance recorded? The album documents the musicians’ performance at the 2019 Willisau Jazz Festival in Switzerland.
Final verdict
Live in Willisau is a strong match for listeners seeking a physical jazz album with a live festival setting, a saxophone-and-drums pairing, and meaningful connections to the music’s history. Choose it for an attentive listen or to add Lewis and Taylor’s contemporary take on that tradition to a CD collection.