Gregory Hutchinson: Kind of Now

Drummer Gregory Hutchinson assembled a cast of stars—trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, tenor saxophonist Ron Blake, pianist Gerald Clayton, guitarist Jakob Bro, guitarist Emmanuel, bassist Joe Sanders—to pay homage to Miles Davis. They revisit Miles’s expansive catalog ranging from bebop to post-bop to ballad to fusion.

Kind of Now kicks off with Charlie Parker’s “Ah-Leu-Cha,” in which Miles was playing alongside his idol. Even though Miles’s technical skills were nowhere near Bird, he was already developing his own sound. Akinmusire captures that sweet, emotional sound in his reinterpretation of “Ah-Leu-Cha.” With “Orbits,” Hutchinson and his collaborators take on Miles’s post-bop era, in which Miles played with his second all-star quintet. In the new version, Akinmusire plays a mesmerizing naked solo before the members join in. This is not a fresh take on “Orbits,” but a continuation.

With “Bitches Brew,” however, the group only gives a small sample of Miles’s original version. With fusion, Miles gave his players plenty of space to expand their ideas. He only came in to play when he felt necessary. While Kind of Now is an intriguing take on Miles’s classics, it makes me want to go back to the original source.