A trumpet in the morning

"A Trumpet In The Morning has two dozen of Marty Ehrlich's musical associates interpreting six of his large group works. The album is bookended by two looks at "Agbekor Translations," a piece of indeterminate length that, according to Bob Blumenthal's excellent liner notes, is based on "six interlocking rhythms from the agbekor dance performed by the Ewe people of Ghana." It's a feel-good piece that, with its overlapping patterns and infectious rhythms, hints at Cuba, calypso, and NOLA-born sounds, many or all of which were influenced by African ideals in the first place. The title track, originally commissioned by the Sound Vision Orchestra, harkens back to Ehrlich's time in St. Louis where he heard Arthur Brown read "A Trumpet In The Morning," the poem which inspired this piece. Here, Ehrlich's Black Artists Group buddy, saxophonist J.D. Parran, takes center stage, delivering a rousing version of the poem and delivering the goods on soprano and bass saxophones.Consonance,dissonance, formality and freedom converge, shake hands, cross paths and take turns coming to the fore during this twenty-three minute opus ... While Ehrlich established his reputation as a performing musician ages ago, he's never really received the attention he deserves as a composer. The ambitious A Trumpet In The Morning should help to rectify this matter".

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