Country : United States Label : Blue Note Genres and styles : Contemporary Jazz / Jazz Year : 2020

On the Tender Spot of Every Calloused Moment

· by Steve Naud

Two years ago, your humble correspondent was smacked in the face by Origami Harvest, from Californian trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire. As ambitious as it is touching, the album was an extraordinary encounter between a jazz trio, a rapper, and a string quartet. We still haven’t fully recovered from that cataclysmic shock and the artist now releases On the Tender Spot of Every Calloused Moment, a less formally charged but equally nourishing wafer.

In the accompanying text for the album, the legendary Archie Shepp praises the trumpeter’s inventive compositions while marvelling at his ability to make the notes written in the score dance. The veteran saxophonist puts his finger on something: Akinmusire may flirt with abstraction, but he always does so with emotion in the foreground. The piece that pays tribute to Roscoe Mitchell is a prime example of this. The same goes for “Blues (We Measure the Heart with a Fist)”, on which the quartet led by the leader ventures out onto free ground. Alongside these more avant-garde pieces, a few ballads bring a bit of serenity to the ensemble, making it less burdensome. 

Akinmusire recorded this album with the members of the quartet who have accompanied him for many years: Sam Harris (piano), Harish Raghavan (double bass), and Justin Brown (drums). The chemistry between these four musicians has been active for a long time, and you can hear it. They’re joined by Jesus Diaz, who recites in Yoruba on the opening piece, and singer Genevieve Atardi, who lays her voice on a  Fender Rhodes interlude. This instrument comes back to provide the cadenza during the most moving moment of the record. Akinmusire has a habit of closing his albums by listing the names of African-Americans killed by the police. This time round, no words are spoken. The organ plays its funeral march while the title of the piece asks the listener to read aloud the new names that are added to this tragic list, that keeps getting longer and longer.

Latest 360 Content

FIJM | Fievel is Glauque For Dessert… Dessert loaded!

FIJM | Fievel is Glauque For Dessert… Dessert loaded!

FIJM | Misc: Beat Bouquet Well Garnished!

FIJM | Misc: Beat Bouquet Well Garnished!

FIJM | Alexis Lombre and the Holy Spirit in the South Side of Chicago

FIJM | Alexis Lombre and the Holy Spirit in the South Side of Chicago

FIJM | Allison Russel’s Apotheosis Concert in Her Hometown

FIJM | Allison Russel’s Apotheosis Concert in Her Hometown

FIJM I Best Dressed, Most Possessed: Fantastic Negrito Stupefies Rogers Stage

FIJM I Best Dressed, Most Possessed: Fantastic Negrito Stupefies Rogers Stage

FIJM 2025 | Beth McKenna : raising her Momentum

FIJM 2025 | Beth McKenna : raising her Momentum

Nuits d’Afrique | Immersion In The World of Stogie T

Nuits d’Afrique | Immersion In The World of Stogie T

FIJM | Julius Rodriguez, Jazz Groove Ace

FIJM | Julius Rodriguez, Jazz Groove Ace

FIJM | Men I Trust Shines Brightly on The Place des Festivals

FIJM | Men I Trust Shines Brightly on The Place des Festivals

FIJM | Anomalie and Lettieri: A New Musical Friendship, Developing in Real Time

FIJM | Anomalie and Lettieri: A New Musical Friendship, Developing in Real Time

FIJM | Linda May Han Oh, A Role Model for Female Double-Bass Players

FIJM | Linda May Han Oh, A Role Model for Female Double-Bass Players

Nuits d’Afrique | La Chiva Gantiva As Seen by Rafael Espinel

Nuits d’Afrique | La Chiva Gantiva As Seen by Rafael Espinel

Suoni | The Spiritual Quest, The End in Transcendence

Suoni | The Spiritual Quest, The End in Transcendence

FIJM | Thundercat, A Feline on The Loose

FIJM | Thundercat, A Feline on The Loose

FIJM | Bill Frisell, Thomas Morgan and Rudy Royston Exposed

FIJM | Bill Frisell, Thomas Morgan and Rudy Royston Exposed

FIJM | Branford Marsalis Among Four MF’s Playin’ Tunes… Live!

FIJM | Branford Marsalis Among Four MF’s Playin’ Tunes… Live!

FIJM | About Derrick Hodge’s Idea of the Color of Noize

FIJM | About Derrick Hodge’s Idea of the Color of Noize

FIJM | Queen of Afrobeats, Ayra confirms her status as a Global… Starr

FIJM | Queen of Afrobeats, Ayra confirms her status as a Global… Starr

FIJM | Black Jazz by Marquis Hill

FIJM | Black Jazz by Marquis Hill

Festival de Lanaudière | Leonardo Garcia Alarcon/Monteverdi’s Coronation of Poppea: being marketwise

Festival de Lanaudière | Leonardo Garcia Alarcon/Monteverdi’s Coronation of Poppea: being marketwise

FIJM | Nate Smith and his Supremely Talented Quartet

FIJM | Nate Smith and his Supremely Talented Quartet

Nuits d’Afrique 2025 | Tyrane Mondeny Presents Her Mandingo Soul

Nuits d’Afrique 2025 | Tyrane Mondeny Presents Her Mandingo Soul

FIJM | Nai Palm? Creature of Exception! Hawa B? Future Star!

FIJM | Nai Palm? Creature of Exception! Hawa B? Future Star!

FIJM 2025 | Funky funky, Trombone Shorty

FIJM 2025 | Funky funky, Trombone Shorty

Subscribe to our newsletter